


We're The Good Guys, I Swear

by Morrigan_Healy



Category: A Little Less Sixteen Candles a Little More "Touch Me" - Fall Out Boy (Song)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 07:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 34,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15238860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morrigan_Healy/pseuds/Morrigan_Healy
Summary: After five years of working for the Dandies, things are about to change for their two hired guns. Because even the darkest memories can resurface in time, and sometimes things aren't always as they seem. How long can one believe a lie for? (BeckettxOC, ChislettxOC). Wrote in June of 2016.





	1. Chapter 1

"Haha yes! God this one was too easy! And it's only 2AM! Sun's not up for two more hours, we could have a little fun before we have to crash!" AJ chirped as she readjusted her derby and resheathed the small pocket knife she'd been twirling for the past ten minutes, seeing as Amelia had gotten the final blow.

"Until you have to crash, anyways. You're stuck in the house, during daylight and all. Don't you miss the outside world? Don't answer that." The older girl added after the crooked smile that had appeared on the blonde's face.

The two looked around, AJ pointing to a lit up diner about three blocks away.

"Real food! Not healthy stuff...pie! C'mon!" And before the brunette could stop her, she'd taken off. Sighing, Amelia followed, Illshya's voice ringing in her head.

You really ought to keep a better eye on her, William won't be too happy if she comes home sick. Or late for that matter.

I'm aware of that, but if we don't go to this stupid little restaurant, I'll never hear the end of it Amelia replied

The two girls walked into the diner which was mostly deserted and after seating themselves, a waitress came by and took their order. Since there was no one else in the restaurant at the time, their food came out rather quickly. The girls mostly ate in silence and all was going well until Amelia's head shot up. A group of vampires had just entered the restaurant. She could immediately tell that they were trouble. She looked at AJ and lowered her voice.

"AJ, I want you to get up slowly and walk out of the restaurant. Get out of here. I'll meet you back at the mansion."

She nodded and stood up slowly. She stretched her arms overhead, revealing her midriff and winked at the vampires as she walked out.

As soon as AJ left, the vampires surrounded her table. Amelia kept her head down and continued to eat her food.

"Hey", one of the vampires said.

Amelia ignored him.

"Hey!" The vampire exclaimed while slamming his hand down on the table

Amelia finally looked up at him. "What?"

"You're one of Beckett's little lapdogs, right?"

"Maybe I am. What's it to ya?"

"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here. And so we're going to cut you a deal. Either you can leave right now, or we'll drain you and send your mangled body back to Beckett as a present. How does that sound, sweetheart?"

Amelia smiled as she stood up.

"Trust me on this one, *sweetheart*, you won't live long enough to do that."

She took in a deep breath and felt the demon's power surge through her body. As one vampire came rushing at her, she sidestepped him and brought her leg down on his back, breaking his spine before twisting his head clean off. A second vampire tried to avenge his fallen comrade, but soon as he was within range, Amelia squeezed off a round of holy water bullets, incinerating the body. The last vampire was trickier. As she worked on dodging the blows he was throwing at her, he managed to sink his fangs into her neck.

With a grunt, Amelia managed to throw him off of her and immediately impaled him with her sword. After that, she threw down some money on the table and went to work on disposing of the bodies.

Twenty minutes later, she opened up a dimensional portal that allowed her to transport herself back to the mansion.

As soon as she walked in the mansion, several of the vampires came to meet her.

"You're bleeding," Mike said as he licked his lips.

"I was ambushed," Amelia replied.

"Did you kill them?" Brendon asked

"Of course I did, and I disposed of the bodies and paid off the restaurant staff so they wouldn't say anything. I'm not the best in the business for no reason. Did AJ make it back safely?"

"Yup, she did and she found William and you can imagine what they're doing,"Adam said dryly.

"No thanks, that's a mental image I don't need. Good night," Amelia said as she walked upstairs to her room.

"Adeline, why'd you come back alone, hm?" William asked when she managed to finally detangle herself from him, being she'd sensed Amelia was home and didn't want to annoy her further even though their rooms were on opposite ends of the hall.

"Told you, Amelia wanted to go get food. And we had a few hours to kill before sunrise." She explained, getting up and walking over to the dresser to pull a nightgown over her head, turning to look at him after.

William sat up from leaning against the headboard, eyes wide when realising she hadn't listened to him yet again.

"I thought I've told you, you and Amelia are to finish jobs and come straight home!"

AJ flinched at the tone his voice had taken on, but crossed her arms over her chest and nearly pouted at her sire.

"But bab-"

"No. Adeline, darling, when will you learn to listen to me? I don't tell you that so you can brush it off and do as you please - you know the control I hold over the city, and there's more than a few enemies that have been made due to that fact. I don't want you getting hurt, that's all." William started, reaching over the edge of the bed for the sweatpants that had been thrown haphazardly aside before bruises and bloodstains had appeared.

The blonde almost snorted at the last comment, knowing full well his thinking had changed in five years - had that been said before she'd been turned, she'd have never believed him, thinking he would be the death of her. And technically, he had been.

"I don't want you getting hurt, that's all," she smiled, voice dropping to imitate him, her accent causing him to sigh as he got up and walked over to her, slipping a hand beneath her chin to tilt her face up.

"Hey. I'm only saying that so you understand. I know you know how to kill efficiently, I just worry that one day something's going to get the better of you when you're not expecting it - like when you're out getting food after a job."

"Bad enough I'm stuck in here all day 'til sundown, when can't I have a little fun when I'm out?" She challenged, hazel eyes shining.

"Because I said so."

Rolling her eyes and hopping up to perch on the dresser, AJ giggled.

"What are you, five?"

William could only shake his head as he turned to lean into her, re-tying the bow at the front of her nightgown, noticing the few sets of bite marks along her collarbone already beginning to heal - meaning she'd want new ones to annoy Amelia with in the morning.

"Now now...Technically speaking, you're the five year old, love. Your birthday is coming up, isn't it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but I thought only Amelia knew-"

"Nonsense. I've heard her talking to you about it, asked her what all the commotion was. She doesn't think it's right that your human birthday should pass without acknowledgement, given that your new one is just a reminder of the day you were turned."

"It's a little pointless, I mean forget having bartenders card me, I usually just jedi-mind trick them into letting me behind the bar to get what I want." Immediately her hand flew to her mouth, whoops that was totally not something she should have said.

"You usually what?" And this time William laughed before continuing. "Wish we would've had you around during Prohibition, would've made the raids a hell of a lot easier. Just charm the boys in blue off our tails...nowadays they'd never think to turn against us, but still."

"Yeah, they wouldn't dare turn against you because you control them. It's too bad the rest of the city doesn't see that, but then again if they did I'd be out of a job."

William shrugged. Anyone stupid enough to go up against his control was going to pay for it sooner or later.

"But back to the point, I guess doing something that day would be nice. Not like killing people, but - I don't know, letting me loose with a credit card on the magnificent mile?"

The innocence in her voice was nearly disarming, being she raised a hand to twirl a lock of curls around her finger at the same time she'd spoke, but the elder vampire only smiled as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"I suppose that would be alright...however, you come home with another Coach bag, there'll be consequences."

She giggled, "Oh come on! I don't have that many! It'd only be a wristlet this time anyways!"

He looked at her and turned, walking over to his dresser to grab a t-shirt and pull it over his head as she jumped down.

"You don't feel like sleeping, do you?"

"Something's wrong."

The sureness in his voice had her tilting her head, but she knew there were times he could sense things she couldn't even pick up on.

Before she could ask what he meant, he was out of the room and down the hall to his office, obviously looking for something.

"William! I'm sure that can wait 'til tomorrow!" Not wanting to risk waking anyone else by actually opening her mouth, she resorted to telepathy.

"It really can't, love. Needed to find this earlier, but now since I've sensed it it's too late."

"What's too late?" And with a snap of her fingers she was perched ontop of the old cherrywood desk, one hand resting on the file folder he was reaching for. Taking it gently from her, he started flipping through the pages, stopping only when a familiar face was seen.

It was a young man in his early twenties, with short spiky black hair and green eyes. He was wearing a red striped hoodie, but there was an emotion in his eyes that immediately made AJ feel uneasy.

"Who's that?"

"An old sire of mine, though this was taken before it happened. Used to live around here, but after I turned him - well, he wasn't as...compliant as you were, and he rebelled to the point where I had to send him off by himself, being he wasn't getting along with anyone. He's got a particular energy aurora, and - though I haven't felt it in years, it's back in the city."

"Your city." AJ nearly purred, looking at the door before waving her hand to shut it softly, the lock clicking after as one hand lifted to pull the folder from his hand and set it back down.

She didn't need to look up at William to know the expression that would be plastered to his face, she could hear it in his voice as one of his hands closed around her wrist, he obviously disapproved of her train of thought.

"Adeline, no, do you hear me? My office is not going to become your new playground!"

She gave a soft whine in protest and pouted at his tone, hazel eyes melding to nearly black with lust as she pulled against his grip, though something told her to watch how she was acting.

"More like our playground, just try to pretend you haven't thought of throwing me up on this old thing and just-" she cut off into a noise of content at the mental image, but was brought back to reality at the sudden burning sensation on her arm, and then remembered exactly why William could be so scary at times.

"Ow, fuck, let me go, baby, that hurts!" She yelped, sliding off the desk onto the floor when he finally let go, curling into herself under his glare as if she was a dog lowering its tail between its legs, hugging her knees to her chest.

Rubbing her wrist before noticing the now slightly blistering outline of his fingers, she pressed her lips to the marks in an effort to calm the burning feeling as she looked up at him.

"When I tell you no, that's a final answer. It's not up for discussion."

She huffed, crossing her arms though she didn't move. Knowing she was only acting like that because she wasn't used to not getting her way, he sighed and knelt down, putting a hand on her knee.

"Why do you do that?" her voice was shaky, barely audible.

He gave her a gentle smile, all trace of disapproval gone as he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"I think you know why, Adeline. Now come, bed."

Before she could say another word, he'd pulled her up and swept her into his arms, unlocking the door to his office with a snap before carrying her back to their room.

Upon setting her down in their bed, she rubbed at her wrist again and bit her lip, waiting for him to lie down.

"I'm sorry I don't listen. I can't help it." she admitted, his shoulder muffling the apology as she rubbed her face into him, arms winding around his waist.

"Just try to heed my warnings, that's all I ask. Now it's time for sleep, love."

She shook her head.

"Just one more mark tonight?" She pleaded, laying down on her side of the bed.

He sighed, "If that'll get you to stay quiet for the night, and only if."

She giggled.

"Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

Amelia easily fell into a deep sleep. She was only woken the next morning when she sensed a presence in her room. She reached for the handgun that she kept under her pillow and bolted out of bed.

"Take it easy, mate. It's only me," said a voice.

As the sleep cleared from her eyes, she recognized Michael Guy Chislett, one of William's men and the only daywalker of the group.

"What do you want?" She snapped

"I just came to check on you. Mike said you were attacked last night and I wanted to make sure you were okay," he said, his hands raised.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. What time is it?" She asked as she put the handgun back and stretched her arms over her head.

"About 10 a.m."

"What?! Why did you let me sleep? We should have been on patrol already."

He shrugged. "You got back late, I figured it was best to let you sleep. Besides, the city won't go to shit just because you slept in a few hours."

"Hey, you don't know that."

"Relax, relax, I'm only teasing. You take things too seriously, sheila."

Amelia ignored him as she made her way to the bathroom and hopped in the shower. She let the hot water wash over her tired muscles and it felt wonderful.

After she got out, she towel dried her hair and tied it back into a braid. She returned to her room to dress and get any necessary weapons. When she was done, she walked downstairs to find Michael waiting by the door.

The two set off on their daily patrol, looking for any signs of trouble. The day passed with little excitement. As dusk came, the two of them started walking back in the direction of the mansion. As they neared the train station, Michael's head shot up as Amelia's skin bristled. They looked at each other and nodded. Someone or something was following them.

Amelia kept walking as Michael hung back, waiting to see what was coming. After a few moments she heard someone come up behind her and roughly throw her up against the wall. Michael was standing over her, smirking.

"Stay quiet and maybe they'll go away."

He gently turned her head away from him and bit her neck. She quietly gasped and let her eyes close, concentrating on the feeling of his lips against her neck. After a few moments, he removed his fangs and gently licked away the excess blood.

"Come on," he said as the wounds on her neck began to heal. "I think they're gone."

He led her by the hand all the way back to the mansion and though Amelia would never admit it, she flushed. Soon enough, they were back at the mansion.

Back on the street, the shadowy figure that had been trailing the girl and the vampire for the entire day retreated back to his hideout. He began to write down everything that had happened that day. When he was done, he added his notes to the case file and called it a day. Before he returned to his room, he took another look at the photograph on top of the case file. It was a picture of two girls, one slightly taller than the other. One, the girl from today, had long brown hair and striking green eyes. The other had curly blonde hair and a coy smile. Underneath, a caption read, "Have you seen these girls?"

The man shook his head and wearily returned to his room.

As soon as they got back to the mansion, Amelia and Michael went upstairs to William's office. She knocked on the door and waited until the door opened.

"We have a problem."

"Come in," William said, ushering the two of them in.

"What seems to be the problem?" William asked as he glanced down at Amelia's hand, which was still entwined with Michael's.

She followed his gaze and immediately removed her hand from his grasp.

"Someone was following us tonight on our way back here, but we didn't get a good look at them. My guess is that it had something to do with the vampires that attacked me last night," Amelia said.

"Wait, you were attacked last night? Why wasn't I informed?" William asked

"If I recall, you were a bit preoccupied with AJ last night when I came home." Amelia replied and out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw Michael smirk.

"Regardless, you should have told me. I will investigate this matter and see what I can find out."

"Thank you, that would be great," Amelia said as she turned to walk out of the room. Michael had already left.

"Oh and Amelia?" William called.

She turned to face the elder vampire.

"If I were you, I would make sure that your personal life doesn't get in the way of your job," he said as AJ sauntered into the room.

"Trust me, I know how to separate business from pleasure, unlike some people," she replied curtly as she walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

AJ turned to look at the door Amelia had just slammed.

"What's her problem? You'd think she'd be a little happier being she actually gets to see daylight!"

"She and Michael were followed today during their patrol, she thinks it may have something to do with the vampires that attacked the two of you at the restaurant," William explained.

"If they got followed he could've just killed them, why let them live?" AJ was quick to object, after the trouble that was William sensing an old sire's presence back in the city only to hear the patrol was spied on - it wasn't adding up.

"Now, I don't want you to worry about this, if anyone else is going to look into it I'll have Brendon and Mike look over where the attack took place and then get involved myself if I must. For now, you and Amelia are to continue the nightly pursuits. You're allowed to take back up if you'll think you'll need it given recent events."

"Right, if I take Andy and Adam I'm liable to end up dead! Do you know how much they mess around!?"

"You have Spencer, Jon and Ryan should you need them. The twins haven't been on a hunt by themselves in nearly a decade thanks to prior lapses in judgment."

AJ shrugged.

"Well, I'm gonna go talk to Amelia, figure out who's all on tonight's list. I'll be back right after, don't you worry."

The flirty tone had William's gaze glued to her hips as she opened the door and walked down to the foyer to talk to her friend.


	3. Chapter 3

"You okay? You walk out slamming the door like that, something's wrong."

"I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all. Don't we have a job tonight?" Amelia sighed and collapsed into one of the armchairs next to the fire.

AJ nodded, turning to pace like she always did.

"Don't have to leave for another hour yet. And I've told William we'd be right back after, he doesn't want a repeat of last night," she admitted, raising a hand to twirl curls like she did when she was bored or nervous.

"Right, because apparently you're tired too, right?" The brunette grinned, noticing the fading marks on her friend's arm. "Wait, what happened to your hand? Those look like burns!"

AJ shrugged, lowering her hand and nodding.

"Ignoring the bite mark in the middle of my wrist, yeah, those are burns. I forgot some people in this house get a bit control-freakish at times."

"Don't tell me Carden tried something again?" The first time the girls had been to the mansion, Carden had scared both of them pretty bad, managing to corner AJ before William had swept in to diffuse the situation.

"If it was his fault, he'd be dead already. You know how William gets when I'm involved." Her tone was almost bitter, and Amelia realized why as she looked at the marks, these were outlines of slender fingers, a grip that had been careful enough to teach only a lesson, not to harm.

"William." The coven leader's name was barely a whisper off Amelia's lips, but AJ blinked and nodded.

"How? Why? You can't let him treat you like this, not after all these years of you finally being ok!" And now Amelia was standing, hands balled into fists at the thought that the vampire could possibly have more marks that she wasn't showing that had been given to her by the one she was in love with. AJ noticed that her eyes had changed from a green color to a piercing blue, meaning she was getting agitated and drawing out the demon.

"Rae, I'm fine, I swear. It was just a little incident last night, I said something out of line, it needed to be done. It doesn't even hurt, see?" AJ poked at the darkest mark and winced slightly, but still smiled.

"That doesn't make it alright. He does that again, you come to me right away, I have stuff to heal it faster, though if you're a vampire I don't understand how you still have-"

"It's complicated. Basically because he turned me, whatever physically damage I take from him will take longer to heal - it's why the bruises take for-fucking-ever. Doesn't help the alpha complex at all, y'know?"

"Alpha complex?"

"Oh come on, you know your lore. The big bad wolf in charge? Mr. Leader of the Pack? Yeah we're vampires but same terms still apply."

Amelia nearly snorted at the logic, but refuted: "That make you the Beta or the Omega than?"

AJ froze, thinking.

"Beta 'cuz I sleep with him and otherwise control the boys when he's not around. Wouldn't be Omega because only the Omegas carry litters, and I'm immortal so there goes those complications."

"God forbid we ever see the day that any of the Dandies have offspring."

Both laughed.

At the sound of footfalls on the foyer stairs, both girls looked up to see Brendon and Carden watching from the balcony.

"What, you guys annoy William enough he had to cancel whatever conference-call he was on to deal with you two?" AJ teased, getting up from the chair she was in.

"He wanted to tell you that you two are not going out tonight, something's came up. We're going instead." Carden began.

"You're going instead?" the shift in her tone was expected, it was almost accusatory.

"You should be glad, that's two less people you have to listen complaining in the morning after listening to you and him act like -" Brendon explained, trying to hid a smile though he cut off at the shock registering across AJ's face.

"Excuse you! That is not the type of thing you speak of in conversation!"

Brendon snickered as the younger female vampire bit her lip in embarrassment, being her cheeks could no longer flush with heat.

"Guys, give it a rest. Why's William all of a sudden letting you go? He knows my reputation is spotless." Amelia questioned, narrowing her eyes.

"There's new trouble in the area and he's worried you two might be in over your head if you ran into it."

"Oh, so now he's worried? Wouldn't happen to be the raven haired twenty something and that ragtag band of hunters now, would it?" AJ's voice was sickeningly sweet, the kind of tone she only reserved for getting William to let her get her way.

"Uh, actually-"

At the sound of the door to William's office opening, Carden trailed off, turning to look toward the door.

"Girls, my office please. I'll explain better than how this conversation is going," William was short, the glare directed at both of his second-in-commands causing them to duck their heads.

Amelia nodded and started up the stairs as the boys waited at the landing, walking down after she'd passed, both now smiling at how AJ had rolled her eyes.

The minute the door to the office was closed behind her, AJ turned on the elder vampire, hazel eyes blazing in challenge.

"Really?! You're letting them go and not us? What's it this time, I not come home fast enough for you from the last job?!"

Amelia's eyes widened at the sudden outburst, she'd never known AJ to try to raise her voice towards William, not since that first two months or so.

"Adeline, settle." His voice was low, though it had an edge that neither girl had ever heard before.

"Carden said something about new trouble and us being over our heads, what's that about?" Amelia wondered, hoping to diffuse AJ's next retort before her other wrist could have matching burns.

"As I've discussed prior, an old sire of mine is back in town. He wouldn't have come alone, he has friends, hunters. Why he's chosen to align himself with them god only knows, but it can't be good. I've decided it's better to let Mike and Brendon handle tonight's patrol, they're older and know what they're facing should a meeting occur."

"William, my reputation is spotless, you know that." Amelia's tone is level, only business like to prove the point.

"And being as you are host to one of the most sought after demons this side of Lilith, you'd be wise to not get involved, as you're just as much a target as Adeline." he argued, motioning for the both of them to sit down in the chairs on the other side of his desk.

"Why am I a target? I didn't do anything!" AJ protested.

William sighed and put a hand to his head, resting his thumb and index finger on his temples.

"I know you must not think about this much, but you're a target simply because of how close we are. It's the exact reason we got into that spat the other day - I want you to be careful because I care about and for you, and going out tonight is something that jeopardizes that."

"Look, my best friend is a demon and I'm a vampire courtesy of the most power hungry vampire this side of the Killjoy Club! I can handle whatever fucking trouble you think I'm going to get into, sweetheart." It nearly was a growl leaving her lips as she stared him down, but two seconds later he'd flicked his hand up, drawing her forward to stand in front of him, eyes lit with cold control.

She managed a smirk as his free hand held her chin, still locking eyes with him as if asking him to test her again.

"Adeline, use that tone with me one more time and it's a cold shower and leaving you alone for the rest of the week, now quiet!"

She felt heat tinge from his fingers and her eyes fluttered closed as she tried to keep her lip from curling. When his hand moved, AJ sat back down in the chair and crossed her ankles, not daring to huff or sigh.

"Amelia, if you really think you're capable enough to handle another of my line and his hunter friends, I'll allow you to go, on the condition that Mike and Brendon accompany you."

Amelia blinked, realizing what William had just said. It was obvious he was angry at AJ, but he knew that allowing Amelia to go in the long run would cause her to learn to not speak against him.

"I understand. I'll go tell them."

And she was up, leaving the room without another look at the couple.

"I'm sorry, Adeline, but this is for your own good. I'm allowing Amelia to go only because she is so much more of a free spirit and isn't under the same restrictions you are, not that I think she can protect herself."

"But what does that have to do with-" Another glare, and she fell quiet as William stood and walked around to where she was knelt by her.

"You already know you hold a leading role in the coven, though you still seem to be content in trying to challenge me. I'd have thought after five years you would have learned, but it seems like you're regressing. Well, we'll just have to fix that."

She bit her lip and looked up, fear present in her eyes.

"Not like last time, I hope?"

The last time she was referring to had already been over four years ago, but neither she nor William had forgot. And, like most things typical to the Dandies, it was as though time hadn't passed since any of them had been turned - meaning the etiquette and punishments were still intact, hence why AJ found herself in a cold shower every now and then for speaking out of turn.

The old black-varnished walnut cane the coven leader walked with hung still hung in his office, and sometimes AJ couldn't help glancing at it as she walked in, remembering the humility and sting that came with learning what was expected of her.

"As long as the shower fixes the attitude, that shouldn't be needed. Don't look at me like that, I know you're remembering. That wasn't to hurt you, dear, I hope you know that."

Her lips turned up at the corners into a small smile.

"I mean my wrist is kinda cool now, and I know in the era we're supposed to be in, cold was traditional for discipline, but being as we're immortal and all cold does is slightly annoy us - do you think you could modify the lesson?"

His eyes widened in surprise, and he nodded, "I suppose that means you would like more burn marks?"

She actually giggled before standing, turning to walk toward the door with a wink.

"You're quite the little masochist, Adeline." William noted as he stood, only to hear another round of giggling.

"I wouldn't test me too much. Since I'm immortal, there's a whole other world we could get into. Not like I'd expect you to know, but still. I'll be waiting."

William could hear her beelining for the bathroom that was attached to the master bedroom before he could take another step.


	4. Chapter 4

Amelia walked back downstairs, not surprised to find Mike and Brendon waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Looks like you get to come along with us, princess. Lucky us," Mike said, giving her a lascivious grin.

Amelia glared at him and before he or Brendon could react, she had kicked his legs out from under him and smashed his face into the banister.

"Try anything tonight, and I will end you," she said, her eyes again glowing blue.

Mike was silent the rest of the walk.

When the trio eventually made it to the run-down side of town, Amelia couldn't help feeling like the guys had lead her there on purpose. The only building in the area that seemed remotely busy that time of night was a seedy little bar that had a few letters on its neon sign flickering, giving the impression that its owner couldn't be bothered with the upkeep.

"I swore the people on my list tonight were in better off areas, what gives?" Amelia grumbled as she followed the two inside, senses heightening the moment cigarette smoke hit her nose.

"That's the thing William must've forgotten to mention. Yeah, you and AJ have your routine, but we have ours. You're with us, deal." Brendon said as he signalled the bartender, who acknowledged him and pulled down a few shot glasses and a bottle from the top shelf.

"Yeah, tonight you get to watch the pros. I mean, we're just babysitting you anyway at this point. Have a drink, relax a bit."

Amelia scoffed at the teasing tone Mike had taken on, but decided to allow him to live - for the moment, anyways, depending on how interesting the remainder of the night played out.

"Any of the usuals tonight, Kyle?" Brendon asked, reaching for the shot that had been poured before him.

The bartender shook his head.

"Unless you count the lady you came in with, I recall seeing her before, she ever come along?"

Both second in commands exchanged glances, then laughed.

"She's just with us for the night, I assure you. Bit of a situation at home she didn't want to be involved in," Mike explained, causing Amelia to look at him, though she didn't say anything.

"There's nothing going on at ho-" she tried to cut in, but Brendon had stood up and walked across the bar, distracting her thought.

"What's he doing?"

"Business." Mike was short in his reply as Kyle poured him another shot, before the two began trading stories again.

As the minutes ticked by, Amelia found herself wanting to leave more and more. Whatever Mike and Brendon usually did clearly wasn't what William was expecting them to by the looks of it, and she reasoned she could probably get away with going on her own expected agenda and be back to the mansion before the boys even left the bar.

Watching across the bar, she could tell Brendon had the girl he was talking to all but wrapped around his finger, she could only imagine the promises he was telling her, some of a big fancy house and all the dresses in the world she could want.

Amelia turned back to Mike and begrudgingly knew she'd have to get his attention. Reaching for the sixth or seventh shot Kyle had poured him, she picked it up and downed it, shrugging off the burn of the whiskey as it went down.

His green eyes were wide as he watched he set it down, corners of his lips pulled back into a smirk.

"There you go, see? Live a little!"

"Live a little? If William knew the two of you used your nights out like this, he'd-"

"Oh, he knows, sweetheart. The kinda things he sends us to do? Brendon's talking up a refrigerator right now, third one of the night if you haven't been keeping count."

"Don't 'sweetheart' me. And the hell is a refrigerator?"

Mike laughed.

"You ever wonder why we never seem to run out of blood? Why William doesn't let you and AJ go down to the wine cellars? It's because that's where we keep them. We don't kill them, well - Brendon doesn't, but they're kept and bled for a steady supply."

"You could just as easy take from the bloodbank at the hospitals! That's not hurting anyone!"

"William wouldn't allow that, that's taking away from the people of his city, you know."

"And killing innocent girls for your personal gain isn't?" Amelia kept her voice level, not wanting to start a scene given the area they were in, though she was appalled at the barbaric tactic the Dandies used.

"Look, it's given those girls a better life at the mansion than the lowlifes they'd go home with, alright? We given them proper burials when it's all said and done. Do you realize how most of us would be if we didn't have that blood daily? AJ and William are testy on their best days, and even - well, you should see Chislett when he doesn't feed, he's probably the most dangerous of us."

Amelia couldn't help the reaction to the Australian's name, and she knew Mike would notice.

"See I knew the two of you had something. Why don't the two of you just come out with it, you sure as hell can't be any worse than AJ and William."

Amelia felt her face flush at the mere thought of ever being as vocal as AJ when it came to stuff like that. She quickly regained her composure though.

"My relationship with Michael is strictly business and, might I add, none of your concern. Besides, I see the way you look at AJ when William's not around. It's...creepy and inappropriate."

Mike smirked.

"Oh, I bet your relationship with him is business...the oldest business, perhaps. Now come on, take another shot and keep talking, you're quite nice when you're civil and not having those glowing eyes."

Getting up, she actually smiled as she turned to look towards the door, her eyes glowing.

"I need to go take a walk, I'm just going to go around the block. I've got a gun on me and can protect myself, but I'll holler if I need you guys. I just need to get some air."

He nodded as she walked out the door.

Something about the area made her feel strange. She couldn't explain the feeling. There was a lingering sense of familiarity about the place, yet Amelia had never been there before.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching. She instinctively drew her weapon but when she turned around, there was no one there. From behind her, she heard the footsteps again, this time retreating. She carefully and quietly followed. As she neared the alleyway, her heart pounded in her chest. What was waiting for her at the end of the alley? She rounded the corner and to her surprise, there was nothing again. She walked down the alley and inspected the area. Nothing. She couldn't pick up on any traces, human or otherwise.

While she had her back turned, she saw something move behind her in her peripheral vision. She fired off a shot, but there was nothing there. What the hell was going on? As she exited the alley, she saw a glimpse of a person. The person was walking fast. Amelia smiled to herself. She had finally found the culprit.

Light and silent on her feet, she followed this person for a few blocks. Finally, they came to a dead end.

"Well, looks like you're out of places to run. Show yourself!"

The person was as tall as she was but a large black hood obscured her face. She slowly turned around with her hands raised, and when she did, Amelia felt her blood run cold. She was staring at herself. The girl in front of her had the same eyes, a piercing green color, the same two dimples that appeared when she smiled. She even had the same hair, dark brown and tied back into a long braid that cascaded down her back.

Amelia's finger was on the trigger and her whole hand was shaking.

"Who are you? Identify yourself," She said, summoning up all of her courage. The person said nothing. She just continued to look at her.

"What? Do you want something?"

The figure said nothing. Instead, it spun its heels and ran. Amelia chased after it once again. Down alleys and side streets until it came to a deserted block where there were no lights. The figure approached a blank brick wall and gestured to it. Amelia stepped forward but couldn't see anything of interest. She turned to question the figure, but it had vanished, leaving Amelia alone. As she turned to walk away, a glint caught her eye. There was a smudge on the wall, about waist height. Amelia reached down to examine it. It was sticky. She sniffed the substance and her nose identified it as blood.

.

Summoning a small burst of hellfire, she panned across the wall to read what was written on it. Painted in blood in large block letters was the word " Remember," with the date of 10/8/11 written below it.

Before Amelia had any time to process what it meant, she fell to her knees. She gasped in pain as her heart raced in her chest. The pain spread through her body like wildfire. She squeezed her eyes shut, desperate for some kind of relief. Images began to flash across her eyelids. Fragments of memories and thoughts. Amelia couldn't make any sense of it. She saw a man, leaves, and some kind of paper. It made no sense.

Soon, it was over. The images stopped flashing and the pain subsided. She slowly got to her feet and as she did, she was overcome by a sudden wave of emotion. She couldn't pinpoint any feeling in particular, but it was so powerful that she was moved to tears. She walked to the mouth of the alley as tears streamed down her face. Her chest rose with huge sobs and her entire body shook. Her heart was racing and her breath came in gasps. She felt like she was dying.

"Dude, the fuck is Amelia?" Brendon managed after another quarter bottle's equivalent of shots, six girls now mind controlled to head back to the mansion.

Carden looked around, having noticed she'd been gone a little longer than necessary for the 'walk' she'd said she was taking. it wasn't possible she had ditched them, was it?

"This part of town? She could be dead. We were supposed to watch her, you heard William."

"Go find her?" Nearly falling off the barstool, Brendon caught himself and grinned at the bartender, who shook his head, "That's enough you guys."

"Ugh, yeah, we kinda have to. Knew bringing her along was going to suck."

When Carden and Brendon finally made it outside, the night air was nice to walk into. Just as the boys were going to start walking off to look for the demoness' host, they turned to look at each other.

"I smell blood, you smell that?" Carden started, head tilted slightly. Brendon nodded, "Let's go."

It didn't take long for the two to figure out what it was, though it was a short walk through a few backalleys before it came to a dead end. The smell was heaviest there, and both were surprised to find Amelia sitting against a nearby wall clutching her knees and sobbing, in an absolute hysterical fit.

The two shared a look before Brendon walked towards her, knowing if Carden did it he'd probably get punched if he tried to check on her.

"Amelia, what the-" Brendon started, kneeling by her, expecting her to injured considering the heavy smell of blood in the area.

"Wall, writing - blood. I'm going cr-crazy! There were these...these images! And then there was a figure but it was - it was me! But not, I just- I don't know!"

"There's writing on the wall? In blood?" Carden asked, walking over to the brick wall on the dead end of the alleyway, running his hand along it, not feeling anything that could resemble the stickiness.

"There's nothing here."

"Yes there is!" Amelia's eyes were wide, and her voice had gotten higher with worry and uncertainty.

"No, there's not, see?" After flipping the flashlight app on his phone, Carden scanned the wall with it, finding it was a normal wall - there was nothing there.

"You probably just drank a bit much, come on, you need to go home. We did our job for the night." Brendon pointed out as he stood, offering a hand to Amelia, who looked at him for a solid minute trying to figure out if he was really there before taking it.

"I'm probably just on edge because I'm with you guys, yeah, that's it. I just need to go home and sleep this off." Amelia tried to convince herself as the three started walking back towards the mansion, but deep down she knew something was really wrong - that hadn't been just a hallucination.


	5. Chapter 5

"Damn, you're home early! How'd you not kill those two?" AJ started the moment Amelia had walked past the kitchen, the younger jumping off the counter with a glass of blood in her hand.

"Don't feel like talking. Saw some...interesting things." Amelia was short, not even looking at the blonde as she continued for the staircase.

"Interesting? Their area can't be much different from the crap we see! It's not like you were in the worst of the worst, was it?"

"I just said-" the brunette began, sighing. "I'll tell you tomorrow, I promise. I just need to think and sleep this off, alright?"

AJ scoffed, but nodded.

"Whatever that means."

Amelia walked upstairs to her bedroom and shut the door without so much as a goodnight. She fell easily into a dreamless sleep that seemed to last forever.

Meanwhile, AJ had watched Amelia walk off, not knowing anything about that the girl had seen.

"She's not ok."

At the hand ghosting across her shoulders, AJ flinched and spun around, not expecting Carden to have been in the room.

"The hell, what'd you-" she breathed, startled as she set the wine glass down, trying to not spill it.

"I'm back early too. Didn't want to be, good night ended too soon. We got any alcohol left? You should join me for a round." It nearly was a purr from the raven haired vampire, and AJ of course picked up on it.

"Heh, no thanks. Mike, you're already drunk." She refuted, starting to walk out of the room.

"Not exactly, princess. Still coherent enough to know what I'm doing." He was grinning now, one hand reaching for her waist.

"No, damn it. Go out and find another girl. Bars haven't closed yet." Her voice was level, though it had the edge of authority she must have picked up from William.

"You're here though. Amelia's gone to bed, and I'm not stupid enough to go after her, we all know she's got a thing for Chislett." His arm looped around her, AJ immediately glaring and twisting away from him, with half the mind to telepathically scream for William.

"You take another step towards me and I'll wake the house. Scream bloody murder."

Carden shook his head, but didn't move. It was a few seconds before a low laugh left him and he turned to walk down the hall to his room, whistling an old Cheap Trick song.

Trying to shake off the advance, AJ took the stairs two at a time and tiptoed past William's office, knowing he was still up working.

Quiet as she was to sneak past, he still heard her footfalls, and could sense something was troubling her, the energy in the air just seemed nervous.

"Adeline? Love, what're you doing up?" he called out, not surprised to have the blonde poke her head in a moment later.

"Can't sleep, Mike, Brendon and Amelia are home. Amelia went to bed, Brendon is in the basement with the twins playing Xbox, and Mike - hopefully he's locked in his room." Her tone had suddenly become venomous.

"What's that tone for?" William was standing now, walking over to the other side of the room to open the door, to which she threw herself into him.

"He's drunk. Tried to get me to do shots, then put his arm around me and I kinda freaked. I don't like being alone with him, I just -"

"Feel like he's going to try something?" William offered, remembering how he'd found them the night he'd brought Amelia and AJ home, where Carden had nearly been the one to turn her.

She nodded, not letting go of his jacket.

"I made him swear to leave you alone the night I took you in, I'll expect he upholds that vow. I'll speak with him in the morning. You need to forget about that, I can see how unsettled it made you. Come, sweetheart, bed."

He kissed her forehead and then looked at her, not expecting her to simply shrug and let go of him, then turn to walk out of the office.

"I guess. I'll settle for feeding, but I'd prefer to sleep tonight."

William couldn't help but not believe her.

"Fuck, what happened to 'I'd prefer to sleep'?" William practically growled as AJ curled nails into his chest but a half hour later, teeth sinking down into his collarbone.

"Baby, I changed my mind, can't you deal?" She giggled, hips rotating over him before she felt his hands scale her back and push her down against him, she hissing from the contact and the scratches she knew she'd have - not that she wasn't already bruised in some spots.

"Mhm, and I'm being quiet like you always want," she added, head dropping back as her mouth opened in a silent moan when he began to move, not giving her the liberty of a warning or time to adjust.

"Not for long, and we both know it." His voice was low, laced with desire and something more dangerous, aided only by the familiar burn of the taste of her blood still lingering in his mouth.

She had a comeback ready for that, though it never left her lips as they were locked with his a few seconds later.

Amelia had been sleeping, and it had felt like forever after what she'd seen and how crazy she'd felt. Had been sleeping, and would be still - had it not been for the bloodcurdling scream waking her up.

"Adeline Jeanette I swear to fucking god I'm gonna murder you, I was actually having a restful night. Fuck, I'd have you spayed if you weren't immortal. " The brunette grumbled as she laid back down and turned over, trying to shut her eyes and forget what she'd heard.

She would love to get back at the young vampire for that, but she knew there was only one person she'd even consider the notion with. And of course, as if on cue, there came a knock at her door.

"Go away, I'm trying to sleep!"

"Amelia, I know you can't sleep with that ratchet, and you're human. Well, technically. We're worse off, supernatural hearing and all." Chislett spoke, laughing softly on the other side of the door.

Amelia shook her head and got out of bed, running a hand through her hair before putting her slippers on and walking to open it.

"Don't you ever sleep, Michael?"

He smiled at her. "After about 2 centuries, you get used to not sleeping. And what about you?"

"Well, it's not like I could sleep with that noise. Besides, I saw something tonight while we were out."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"No, not particularly."

The two were silent for a few minutes.

"Want to spar?" she asked suddenly

"At two in the morning?" he replied

She shrugged. "I've got a lot of nervous energy I need to burn off."

He considered it for a moment. "Sure, sounds like fun."

He left the room to allow Amelia time to get dressed. She grabbed a few weapons from her closet and headed down to the basement where there were rooms for sparring and training.

He was already there, waiting. The moment she stepped into the room, he wasted no time in throwing a punch at her. She crouched low to sweep his legs out from under him, but he was too smart for that. He managed to step out of harm's way before he spun and kicked his leg out, bringing down on the small of Amelia's back. She groaned and he simply smirked at her. Determined to wipe the smirk off of his face, she got back up and came at him with a renewed sense of determination.

Even without drawing power from the demon, Amelia was able to keep up with him pretty well. All was going well until she slipped and winced as her elbow made contact with the pavement. The skin on her elbow tore and small droplets of blood rushed to the surface. All at once, the atmosphere in the room changed. Amelia saw something feral flicker in Michael's eyes and it made her uncomfortable.

Amelia got back up and continued to fight, stopping only when she realized that Michael was not making any effort to fight back. Instead, he was watching her. The weight of his gaze was almost unbearable. It was like being face to face with a shark.

"You okay?" She asked

He made no response. Before she could say anything else, he threw her up against the wall, his body flush against hers. His forearm was pressed against her neck, holding her in place.

"Michael, let me go. You're hurting me." She said, trying to free herself

"You know, I could kill you right now. I could crush your windpipe and watch your face as the light leaves your eyes. I could rip your throat out and listen as your lungs struggle to take in your last breath. Or," he said, his voice dropping to a low whisper as his lips ghosted over her ear, "I could just drain you dry and feel the life leaving your body with every drop."

Without warning, he wrenched her neck to the side and bit her. Amelia gasped and squirmed, desperately trying to get away. She was at an extreme disadvantage and could do nothing except wait for him to finish.

Her heart was thumping in her chest as her breaths came in gasps. Her whole world was spinning and black edges formed at the edge of her vision. Finally, he lifted his head and she took her opportunity.

Reaching for the gun that she wore at her waist, she fired a shot that struck him in the foot, bringing him back to his senses. He stepped back and let her body fall to the ground. She collapsed in a heap and took some deep breaths.

She could hear him sputtering apologies. The minute that he stepped towards her though, she stood up and pointed her gun at him. Her eyes were glowing blue, meaning the demon was in control.

"That's enough. We're done here," She said.

Before he could respond, she had walked out of the room and back upstairs. She walked so quickly that she barely noticed Brendon or Mike, drawn by the scent of her blood. She walked back to her room, closed the door, and collapsed into the bed.

As soon as Amelia had disappeared back upstairs, Brendon walked back into the sparring room, seeing Chislett staring after the path the girl had taken, his lips stained with blood while one hand rubbed at his foot.

"The hell was all that about, man? She could've killed you!"

"If I hadn't just tried to kill her, I'd say it was unwarranted. I just...I haven't fed in a few days, you know the refrigerators are running low..." he argued, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, trying to forgot how good her blood had been as he broke from the trance.

"That's why Mike and I went out tonight, back room should be stocked," Brendon shrugged, sighing as Adam and Andy followed into the room.

"What was all that? I heard a gun go off..." Adam was quite, jumpy at any idea that there had been a fight.

"Just a little sparring, nothing to worry 'bout. Got a little out of control and she had to rein me back in." Michael explained, turning to walk back upstairs.

"Oh. Well if you're okay then I guess everything's fine." Andy spoke next, though he couldn't help wondering how bad things had gotten if Amelia had actually shot the daywalker.

As Michael walked up the stairs, he heard Carden trailing behind him.

"So, what did it taste like? Her blood, I mean," he asked as Michael opened the door to his room.

He turned back to look at Mike and shrugged.

"It was almost like a good whiskey, kinda burned as it went down, but with a smooth flavor. Suppose that's the demon in her, though."

"Mhm, I'd sure love a taste," Carden said as he walked away.

For some reason when Mike said that, a feeling of wanting to protect Amelia came over him. He had no idea where that feeling had come from. He brushed it off and decided to turn in for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

When AJ finally managed to wake up the next morning, she rubbed her eyes and looked around, not bothering to look at the time; noticing only that William was gone.

"Damn it...I must've overslept..." It was a half sigh as she slipped out of bed and walked over to his closet to grab a dress shirt, buttoning it three quarters of the way up before pulling on a pair of yoga pants.

After managing to restrain what curls weren't knotted with a headband, she finally looked at the clock hanging over the mantle.

"Definitely overslept."

Walking out into the hall, she immediately noticed Amelia's door wasn't open, usually if she was somewhere else it the house it was left open. She couldn't be sleeping, could she?

Heading downstairs into the drawing room, she found the twins crowded around the mail that had been placed on one of the foot stools.

"What's all that?" She asked, reaching for one of the top letters, noticing the handwriting seemed a little too formal for simple well wishing.

"We figured we'd wait for you or William, being you two sort of are in charge," Andy explained, watching as sharper nails slid the letter open.

"Well, thank you, that's very kind, though I wouldn't dare for a minute say I'm in charge." AJ smiled, unfolding the older looking paper from its contents.

"It's a summons..." She realised, reading through the letter after seeing it had been addressed to her and her alone.

"For what though?" Adam asked, reaching for the sheet. AJ immediately rolled it and promptly smacked at his hand, "Nothing that concerns you, though I should tell William as soon as I can. He isn't out, is he? When I woke up-"

"Princess, you know he's got meetings this time of day, relax, he'll be home later."

"Mike, one more ill-timed term of endearment out of your mouth and I'll- you haven't seen Amelia, have you? I know you guys went out last night, and I haven't seen her yet."

The elder vampire shrugged, "Not since we got home. Thought she went to bed?"

AJ nodded, perhaps Amelia really was still sleeping after all.

"That's probably it, she's still asleep. I'm going to go get food ready for her when she wakes up, and I might make you boys the jello shots you've been asking for, heaven knows William could use them."

"Jello shots?! PLEASE!?" Both twins chorus, leaving AJ to laugh.

"Alright, alright. You have to promise to not eat them all at once, though!" She called over her shoulder as she walked towards the kitchen, mind still on the letter.

William was going to hear about it later, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to step out of line.

After what seemed like an eternity, Amelia slowly opened her eyes. She slowly sat up and blinked. Her head was pounding and she felt like she could sleep forever. Throwing the covers off of herself, she stood up and pulled back the curtains. The half moon was high above the skyline. How long had she been asleep?

Checking her watch, she saw it was almost midnight. She had slept for a day and then some. Changing into something more comfortable than her sparring clothes, she decided to seek out William first and explain what had happened.

She walked down the hallway to his office where she could sense his presence. She knocked and waited until he allowed her to come in.

"Ah Amelia, please come in. I was worried about you. You've been asleep for a while."

"Yeah, I know. There was a bit of an incident the other night."

"Was that the night that you can home early with Mike and Brendon?"

She nodded. "I was wired and I wanted to burn off some energy. Michael came in to check up on me, and then we decided to spar. Long story short, he ended up attacking me. He bit me and tried to drain me dry. Needless to say, that is why I was sleeping so long."

William nodded but his expression remained neutral. "Well I'm certainly sorry that happened. Michael came by this morning and explained his side of the story. For now, you will be completing your missions on your own."

Amelia's eyes widened. "By myself? Are you sure? Does AJ know?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be? You are the best at your job and I certainly trust you enough. And no, not quite yet, I'm waiting to find the right time."

"Well, thank you sir, I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome. In fact, you can start tomorrow. As soon as the sun rises, you can patrol on your own. And as for Michael," William continued, almost as if sensing her next question, "he will be completing his own patrols at night. That is all for now, unless you have something else you'd like to share with me."

For a moment, Amelia considered telling him about the things she had seen the night prior, the visions, but decided to keep that bit of information to herself for now.

"No sir, I think that's all for now. Thank you," She replied as she stood up.

She made her way back to her room, lost in thought. She was so lost in thought that she almost ran into Michael, who was walking down the hallway.

"Whoa there sheila, where's the fire?" He joked

"Just going back to my room," She replied, not making eye contact.

"Do you have a minute? I was hoping we could talk."

She shrugged. "Sure, I guess we could. Where?"

"Come on," he said as he turned to walk downstairs. He led her onto the porch and took a seat on one of the chairs. She chose the chair farthest away from him.

"Listen, about the other day...I want to apologize. I lost control when I shouldn't have and I hurt you. I'm sorry," he said, running a hand awkwardly through his hair.

"It's fine. I accept your apology. Next time though, at least ask me before you bite me."

He smirked. "So if I ask, you'll let me? I would have never guessed you'd be into that but hey, we all have our preferences."

Amelia felt her cheeks flush at his implication. She resisted the urge to smack him.

"Aw come on, you don't have to be embarrassed. I'm just kidding."

A few moments of silence passed between them.

Then she suddenly spoke up. "How did AJ and I get here?"

Her question threw him off guard. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how did we get to work for one of the most notorious groups of vampires in the entire Midwest?"

He regarded her with a strange look. "Don't you remember? William heard of your reputation through the grapevine and then he personally flew out to meet you, you signed a contract and now you're here."

Even though Amelia knew that was what happened, she had a nagging suspicion that something wasn't quite right with that story. She kept that notion to herself.

"Of course, silly me. I must be more tired than I thought," she said, keeping her voice level.

Michael looked at her strangely but said nothing. After a few more minutes in silence, Amelia excused herself, citing mental and physical fatigue. She walked back upstairs to her room and after a few minutes of meditative silence, she was able to fall into a peaceful sleep.

Michael stayed out on the porch for some time, thinking. Amelia had been acting strange tonight, that was for sure. As he walked back into the house, he mentioned it to Brendon, who assured him that he would take a look into the matter.

Then he went back to his room to stare at the ceiling for a few hours before starting his morning patrol.

After Michael had informed him of Amelia's strange behavior, Brendon took it upon himself to investigate. He crept silently into her room and gazed upon her sleeping form. Her breathing and heart rate were slow, meaning that she was deep in sleep which would make his job a lot easier. He walked over to her sleeping form and gently picked up one of her arms. Extending the wrist, he gently sunk his fangs into the tender flesh. She grimaced in her sleep but did not wake. It was always easiest for him to do this if he had a few memories to latch onto. He scanned her memory and once he was satisfied, he withdrew his fangs.

Closing his eyes, he began to focus on her memories. Eventually, he was able to gain access to her thoughts, though, he noted, this time took significantly longer than normal. He could feel some resistance from the demon, more than usual. As he probed through her memories, he noticed a sense of disconnect, like something was interfering. Her memories weren't clear, and every now and then, he could catch a glimpse of something else, a different place and time. It confused him greatly. He finished probing her memories and after finding nothing else of interest, he broke the link and walked out of the room. He walked right down the hall to William's office and walked in.

William was sitting at his desk and didn't even look up when Brendon walked in the room. Brendon stood quietly and waited to be addressed.

"You know, most people usually knock before entering someone's office unannounced. Don't tell me you've forgotten your manners," he said without looking up.

"Sorry sir, but I think there is something you should be aware of," Brendon said.

William put his pen down and looked up expectantly at Brendon.

"Well if it's so important that you barged into my office unannounced, by all means, let's hear it."

There was an edge to his voice that made Brendon uneasy. He could hear the displeasure in William's voice. He had to proceed carefully.

"Well, I was walking back to my room when Michael stopped me. He said that Amelia was acting strangely and asked him some weird questions and so he asked me to investigate. I probed her memories and while I was doing it, there was definitely some pushback, or resistance. I think it was coming from the demon, almost like she didn't want me in there. And her memories, there was a sense of disconnect, like something wasn't right. I have never encountered that before and thought you ought to know."

"Thank you for informing me, Brendon. I will keep an eye on that."

Brendon nodded as he turned to walk out of the room. Before he could reach the door, William had come up behind him and shoved his face into the nearby wall.

"The next time you have something you wish to tell me, I suggest you remember your manners, or there will be consequences. I do not tolerate disrespect in this house," he said, his voice low and deadly.

"I understand, sir. My apologies," Brendon replied, though William could hear the insincerity in his voice.

Regardless, William let him go and shoved him out of the office. Things had not gone well today and he was on edge, and now to hear that one of his best assassins was acting strangely made him uneasy.

As he walked back to his desk, he could sense AJ approaching his office and he could feel an argument brewing in the air. With a slight sigh, he sat back down at his desk and readied himself for the inevitable.


	7. Chapter 7

"What the hell is this?!" AJ isn't exactly quiet when she walks into William's office, not even bothering to knock, as it's unlikely he's doing anything but paperwork.

"And what doing you think you're doing with that tone, Adeline?" His tone matches hers, which has her eyes widening as she tosses the letter onto the desk.

"Get a taste of your own medicine for once. Seems like I'm not the only one keeping secrets around here, go on, read through that. You've got no right to be mad at me for going through the liquor cabinet after hiding something like this!" She turned to pace, one hand twirling curls as usual.

"Wha- darling, I'm not-"

"What happened to the other two letters before this one?"

Her eyes had shifted black with anger, last time she was this mad over something it'd taken both second in commands to reign her in.

The letter hadn't been good, it had been a literal summons in every reminder of the Twilight sense. Though it was stupid, what would the grand coven be doing getting involved with the Dandies when they had their own issues with the Voltori over in Italy? Granted this wasn't as bad as being put to death because she hadn't been turned as in Bella's case, it still was hard news to read.

Mainly that there was some old vampiric law that wasn't being followed, something along the lines of how William should have technically married her immediately after turning her given the coven's reputation.

And her she was, getting this news for the first time, yet the letter read as though there had been previous attempts of contact. Which means he'd known about it long before she had, intercepting the earlier letters.

"I'm aware of the entire ordeal. I've elected to not do anything about it." William shrugged, getting up to walk around to the other side of the desk, leaning against it as he watched her pace.

"Elected to not do anything about it?! Right, like you intend to eventually allow Amelia to die under mysterious circumstances, right? Don't think I haven't heard the boys talking. You let her go off without me, and she could've died. Also heard she's now allowed to go off on her own. Where's that coming from?"

"If you'd stop pacing and sit like a proper lady, I could explain."

Adeline scoffed, though she stopped moving. "Always with the manners, even when you're mad."

Chocolate brown eyes narrowed at the comment, having remembered Brendon's lack thereof earlier.

"It appears some of the members of this household are forgetting them, both you and Brendon just walking in here unannounced, and you-for that tone I really ought to punish you." Slight pause as he flicked his wrist up, Adeline moving with it until she was nearly flush with him.

"I'm not five, come on!" She protested as soon as his hand had landed on the small of her back, though he kissed her forehead.

"But in hindsight, you're right. I shouldn't have kept the news from you. I only knew it was going to stress you out, and you've got enough to worry about with the boys. Now, that's a summons, they'll want us for a meeting, and it's not going to be here. Best scenario is we take Amelia and Michael with us, he knows exactly why no action was taken, as well as how you two came to work for me. Amelia can be further testimony if it's needed, I'd just prefer to not leave her here with the others while we're gone."

"Yeah, but she's been through a lot lately. I think she should stay back. Besides, if you leave, you're going to need someone in charge to keep the boys in line."

He considered her request for a moment.

"I'll see that that's the case then. In the meantime, if the proposed meeting is as soon as that letter states, we've got work to do."

"Work?" Her head tilts, face contorting in confusion.

"Of course - the clothes you have aren't the sort you'd need to appear in front of the Grand Coven in, and if we're travelling, that'll all need to be arranged. Breaking the news to the boys will be easy enough, though I already know you're worried about Mike should Amelia be left in charge."

AJ could only nod. "So what, that means shopping tomorrow? I'm not sure what else you mean by what I have not being the right sort..."

(THIS is the kind of stuff she has and THIS is what I'm imagining William thinks she needs.)

He sighed, hand lifting from the small of her back to spin her around to look at her.

"Well for one your knees are nearly showing, and you're not wearing your corset."

She almost pouted, everyone in the house knew she hated wearing corsets, she only put up with it because it had been fun at first, and many of her dresses didn't fit right without one. Granted they weren't as painful as they could be because she didn't have to breathe like humans did, it still restricted movement.

"I feel more human and not as much like a porcelain doll that way," she admitted, not meeting his eyes.

She could feel the glare at the admission, and bit her lip out of habit. "But this is the Grand Coven we're talking about, human is that last thing I need to feel around them."

"Then it's settled. We'll run tomorrow to get you new things, and break the news while we're at it. But the sun'll be up in a few hours, which means you're expected to stay in the house," William had started before AJ had scoffed, "What? It's not like a walker's gonna get me if I step outside, I'm not Carl."

Chocolate brown eyes closed for a moment, he was trying not to snap at the girl in front of him.

"Oh, look who just rolled their eyes at me." It was a giggle this time, and her hands rested on her hips as she turned to look at him.

"I did not. I closed my eyes and turned my head."

"Rolling them while they were closed, yeah. Got it sweetheart. Anyways - if I'm to stay in the house, you know where I'll be. Hopefully you can learn to give yourself a break."

And turning and walking out of his office, she grinned, flicking her hand up before the door closed, the slight stack of still-needing-to-be-organized papers falling off onto the floor.

She paused in the hall, trying not to collapse into a fit of laughter as an irritated "DAMN IT ADELINE!" met her ears.

Maybe the twins were right, she wasn't the only one that needed to learn to relax.

The next morning, Amelia rose as sunlight filtered through her blinds. She quickly dressed and gathered her weapons from her closet. Once everything was secure, she walked out of the house. Before leaving the grounds, she looked at the note she had found attached to her door, easily recognizing William's flowing script. It was a simple enough patrol coupled with a few meetings with strategic people that William associated with in order to keep a hold on the city. Amelia easily completed her patrol with a few hours left before she would be expected back. She used this time to gather her thoughts, which wasn't easy. Over the last few days, things had gotten complicated, and she was no longer sure of anything. After walking along the river, which gave her a sense of peace, she ducked into a cafe and ordered a sandwich and some coffee.

She sat alone, enjoying her lunch, when a voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Excuse me miss, is this seat taken?"

Amelia looked up and saw a man with a black cap and light colored hair poking out from underneath. He wore a pair of black rimmed glasses and a hoodie and pants.

Amelia glanced around the crowded establishment and shrugged.

"I guess it is now," she replied and the man sat down.

She finished her lunch in silence, glancing at her new companion every now and then.

"Do I know you from somewhere? You seem awfully familiar," she said, eyeing him cautiously.

The man shrugged. "I've got a familiar face, I guess. My name is Patrick. What's yours?"

"It's Amelia. Nice to meet you, Patrick. What do you do around here?"

"I'm in a band, and I do some tech stuff on the side. You?"

"I work for a pretty prominent city official. I guess you could say I work in security."

Patrick laughed.

"What's so funny?" she demanded

"Oh, nothing. You just don't seem like the security type, that's all."

"Oh trust me," she said, letting her eyes flash blue, "I'm a lot stronger than I look."

A silence set in between them. After a moment, Amelia stood up and excused herself.

"Listen Patrick, it's been great talking, but I really must be going. Maybe I'll see you around?"

He stood up as well. "I'd like that. See you soon."

As he walked away, she noticed a piece of paper fall out of his pocket and onto the floor. Amelia tried to get his attention, but Patrick had vanished before she had gotten the chance. Out of curiosity she looked at the piece of paper. All it had was a date three days from now and an address. She stuck it in her pocket and headed back towards the mansion.

Patrick walked away from the restaurant and back towards the hideout.

After making sure no one was following him, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. The sun was starting to sink, which means that Pete would be waking up soon.

As soon as they heard the door open, Andy and Joe came to greet him.

"Anything?" Andy asked, hopeful

Patrick nodded. "I made contact with her. Amelia, the demon. She almost seemed to remember me. Now we just have to wait for her to come to us."

"And the other one?"

"Still under Beckett's control, as far as I know. She's the one I'm more worried about. She will be the one that'll be harder to break," Patrick said, sinking down into a nearby chair.

"Once we have the demon back on our side, getting the other one on our side should be no problem," Joe said.

A laugh came out of the darkness as Pete walked into the kitchen area.

"You guys underestimate Beckett's power. I think we're looking at one hell of a fight, even with the demon."

"Thanks so much for the vote of confidence," Patrick remarked dryly.

Pete shrugged as he worked on mixing up the concoction that Patrick had made for him in order to stave off the bloodlust.

"When did you set up the meeting with Beckett, anyways?" Joe asked, looking between the others.

"Well, that was the third letter I've sent. Hoping one of the girls gets it this time and actually makes him see it, then maybe we'd know. I said to send a reply within the week, so we'll know soon if any of the plan worked."

Pete laughed again as he grabbed things here and there from the counter, finally plugging in the blender.

"When do our plans ever work when they involve that pompous bloodsucker? I mean, come on, it's not like they're gonna stay once they realize it's us. We could be walking to our deaths at this point."

Patrick sighed, knowing Pete had a point. Even if they did manage to get the girls and the leader separate from the rest of the group, there was no way they'd come out of a fight without setbacks if it came down to it. Which was why the prospected meeting was just to talk, as the letter had said.

"Which is why, should they agree to meet, we're not going to fight. You're not going in headfirst after him, though I know how badly you want to kill him for turning you. We need to go about this logically - firstly getting the girls on our side again."

"Oh, okay." The sarcastic reply from Pete was short as he pulled the lid off the blender, nearly tipping it vertical in his haste to dull the now-throbbing ache in the back of his head, he wanted blood and knew he couldn't have it. "Remind me again how long it's been since we contacted them initially about the job?"

"Five years," came Patrick's somber reply. "Five years too many."

With that, he dragged himself from the chair and went back to his room. They all heard the door slam. They also knew how badly Patrick felt about the whole thing, given he was the one who initially contracted the girls in the first place.


	8. Chapter 8

"One of the boys asks to 'see my ankle' and they're gonna get my heel in their eyesocket if they think they're funny," AJ grumbled as she tried to remember how to walk, given how many layers she had on was making it difficult.

Two hundred-odd some years in the past and she probably could've handled it, but this was too much, all for a freakin' letter. Again, wasn't like they were going to be killed on the spot, she was already turned. Most that could happen would probably be a slap on the wrist and a nice fine William could quite literally pay off with a snap of his fingers.

"You okay? You're awfully grumpy lately." Amelia noted as she wandered into the kitchen, having free time to atleast talk to the younger girl, though with how moody she'd been lately she'd wondered if it was a good idea.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just have this stupid meeting William and I have to go to. He insists I wear this stuff, apparently the old dresses are too short. They're just at my knees, it's not like - well, they're not form fitting like the skanky club ones, but you get the point."

"When'd you guys leave?"

AJ shrugged. "Think it's tomorrow? Letter said to reply by the end of the week, he of course replied that night. Apparently this isn't the first time we've been called for this meeting, it's just the first time he's doing anything about it," she paused, laughing softly as she adjusted the bell sleeves of the dress, the buttons too tight around her wrists, "Mostly because I yelled at him for hiding it."

"And he didn't-" Amelia started to ask, though AJ knew what she was wondering.

"Nah, I left before that. He's probably still mad at me, but knows having to wear this for anything longer than an hour or two is punishment enough."

"Still can't believe you guys are leaving me in charge. Than again I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

AJ shrugged.

"Well, William did want to bring you, I convinced him to let you stay here, you've been through a lot lately. Thank me la-"

A whistle broke her train of thought, but at the voice she knew who it was.

"You two are going all out for that trip, hm? Haven't seen you in this stuff since the early early days."

When she turned around, Carden was perched on the counter behind her, hand still in the air as he'd been reaching for the ribbon that had been tied into her curls. Immediately AJ scowled in disapproval.

"Mike, do I need to give you a reason as to why you should really remain still if you wish to keep that limb? You know I don't like my hair touched."

He only smirked and rolled his eyes, though his hand lowered.

"Just saying, I'd wear that stuff more if I were you. It's more the etiquette we grew up with, you remember the fits William would get into about you in the shorter dresses."

AJ shook her head, one hand lifting to press against her forehead as though she had a headache.

"Right, because apparently the thought of my bare knees was going to turn you and the other boys into rabid dogs trying to pull me apart. I don't understand how he gets so tempermental about my day wear when the other stuff isn't an issue. You're a guy, what'd you think?"

"AJ, you're really gonna talk about this now? With the one vampire we know cannot stay on his leash at bars-" Amelia tried to cut in, but instead raised her hands and walked off, thinking better of sticking around.

"I can understand the night stuff not being an issue, it's not like you've got much left, we've seen the laundry room. And I mean Brendon and I have walked in on you and him in the kitchen at 4 AM how many times now? But the daywear, yeah, women your age were expected to be - well, seen and not heard, more often than not expected not to speak thanks to the restrictions of air thanks to the corsets."

"Oh god don't remind me, he brought a new one home for me last night and - pretty sure my ribs are bruised."

Carden actually smiled, remembering the days when taking a girl home when they dressed in the era just wasn't worth the hassle of undressing her once he got her alone.

"You'll get used to it again. So, shame you two have to leave, William told me all about that. As I'm expected to say this, you have my word I won't do anything stupid while you're gone."

AJ couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"I swear. I won't do anything. We've got enough of a blood supply that I won't need to make the nightly trips out, and Brendon and I usually runs our other tasks together. Michael said he'd watch Amelia anyway, he still feels bad about what happened."

AJ turned on the spot, tilting her head and pausing before walking to the cabinet to grab things for lunch, even if it wasn't food she still needed to leave a bit of a surprise 'you'd better behave' gift for the boys while she was gone. Grabbing the powdered sugar and multiple bottles of alcohol here and there, she moved about the kitchen, still listening to Mike.

"Wait. Feels bad about what?"

And when she turned back to look at him, he had disappeared, evidently having said too much.

That night, AJ and William left, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, Amelia sort of missed them. She was, however, enjoying the peace and quiet that the two of them left behind. The next day after completing her patrol, she returned to the mansion while the sun was still high in the sky. She could sense the presence of the vampires but she knew that all of them were sleeping, and she had passed Michael on her way in, meaning that she had the house "to herself" for a little bit. She changed out of her clothes and into something more comfortable and she sat down and began to think. Ever since that night with Mike and Brendon, her thoughts had been troubled. It was like she was trying to remember something that was just outside of her reach. Something about this whole situation just didn't seem right, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

She walked out of her room and down the stairs. She stopped at the doorway that led down to the basement, and after making sure there was no one around, she carefully opened the door and walked down the stairs. She descended the stairs quietly, drawing power from the demon to see in the dim light. This part of the basement was familiar to her. This is where the training rooms were. She walked past the training rooms, though, and down a narrow hallway. As she walked farther and farther, she detected a decrease in temperature and noticed that the area was becoming less polished and finished. Finally, she came to a large steel door, with a small slat that could be opened. Standing on her tiptoes, she opened the little sliding slat and peeked inside. She was absolutely horrified by what she saw.

First, her nose was assaulted by an odor so foul. It reeked of blood, sex, and death. Inside the room were 8 to 10 women. Each was chained to the wall, and appeared to be under the influence of something. None of them moved; they simply stared off into space. Were these the "refrigerators" that Mike had spoken of? She felt like she was watching something she shouldn't have, but her gaze was transfixed. She could not look away. She didn't know how long she stood there, staring at the cruel injustice before her. She only tore her eyes away when she thought she heard movement upstairs. Quickly summoning a dimensional portal, she transported herself back to her room. Looking at her watch, an hour had passed. As far as she knew, Michael was still out, and the others wouldn't be waking for at least another few. Taking a minute to calm her racing heart, she tried to block out the memory of what she had seen. She again left her room and decided to stay as far away from the lower level as possible. Instead, she decided to explore upstairs, even though she knew that was an awful idea.

She knew that there were certain rooms that she was not allowed to go into as per the rules that William had set up. However, he wasn't here, so she didn't give a damn if she broke his rules. She first wandered into the library and started to look over the vast collection of books. As she passed her hands over the worn leather spines of the various tomes, she could sense a strange energy coming from one of the books. It felt like magic. She removed the book from its place on the shelf and jumped back in surprise as the bookshelf moved aside, revealing a hidden staircase. After confirming that there was no movement in the house, she crept up the stairs. The stair led up to the attic. It was dark and musty smelling up here. She could hear the wind whistling through the rafters. She walked around the perimeter, looking at all of the old objects and trinkets from eras long ago. This place gave her the creeps, and she was not one who scared easily. She decided to go back down to her room. She'd had enough for one day.

As she walked back towards the staircase, she noticed that one of the floorboards didn't feel like the others. It felt lighter, out of place. Curiously, she bent down to examine it. The floorboard seemed loose, and with some force, it came out of its place. It kicked up a cloud of dust and Amelia coughed. Once the dust settled, she peered inside of the hole. Inside of it was a book. Amelia grabbed it and placed it on the floor next to her. It was a fairly nondescript book with simple binding. When she opened the book though, she got the shock of her life, for staring at her from the front page, was a picture of her and AJ. Sure, they both looked a little younger, but it was definitely them. What the fuck had she stumbled upon?

There was a knot in her stomach forming, but in the end her curiosity got the best of her. She began to flip through the book. Inside, there were various pictures of her and AJ, eating, sleeping in a hotel, even from inside an airport, yet Amelia couldn't recall any of those pictures being taken. The more that she flipped through the book, the worse her anxiety became. It was the final page, however, that broke her. It was a newspaper clipping, dated almost 5 years ago.

"HAVE YOU SEEN THESE GIRLS?" the caption screamed

Another picture of herself and AJ was below it. The article read like a missing persons report, which, after getting to the end of the article, Amelia realized that that is exactly what it was, except it was for her and AJ. What the fuck was going on? Deciding that she had seen enough, she put the book back where she had found it and replaced the board. It was difficult to do, however, because her hands were shaking so badly. She stood up and rushed back down the stairs. The door swung open and shut behind her as she exited the library. Just as she was about to leave the library, she was suddenly assaulted by a flood of memories, just like she had been the night she went out with Brendon and Mike.

She dropped to her knees and held her head in her hands as images flashed in her mind. She saw a sunny beach, a small apartment, the man from the café, and so many other things that she couldn't make sense of. The strain of everything was too much for her, and before she realized what happened, she passed out.

When she finally came back around, she could hear voices.

"Seriously Mike, what the hell did you do to her?" asked a voice that she recognized as Michael's

"I swear, I didn't do anything. I found her like this; I have no idea what happened."

Amelia slowly opened her eyes and blinked. She was surrounded by Mike, Brendon, Michael, Adam, and Andy. She was laying on the library floor. Michael loomed over her, his face etched with concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked

"I'm not sure," she replied.

"What happened?" he asked

"I got dizzy while I was reading and passed out," she replied, not entirely a lie.

"Have you eaten anything lately?"

She shook her head.

"Mike, go get her some food and water," Michael said as he helped her to sit up.

The thought of food utterly disgusted her at that point but to keep up the appearance of normalcy, she ate the food and drank the water that Mike brought back anyway.

While Andy and Adam had wandered away after seeing she was alright, she could feel Brendon, Mike, and Michael all staring at her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Brendon asked as she got to her feet

"Guys, I'm fine. I hadn't eaten anything in a while so my blood sugar probably got a little too low. I swear, I'm okay now."

"All right, but if you need anything, let us know," Michael said.

"I will," she replied

Once she had walked out of the room, Michael looked at the other two.

"Is it just me, or has she been acting weird lately?"

"Yeah, ever since she came on that patrol with us, she's been acting strange. Something's up."

"You don't think she's remembering, do you?" Mike asked

"Remembering what?" Michael asked

Brendon shot Mike a dirty glare.

"Nevermind. Forget I said anything. Just keep an eye on her, all right?"

Michael nodded as Mike and Brendon walked out of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Meanwhile, Amelia was deep in meditation. She found herself walking down a stone hallway with torches lining the wall. Soon she came to a door and walked inside. Here was the place where she could speak with the demon.

"Come child, sit. We have much to discuss, you and I", came a voice from the darkness.

Amelia sat on the floor with her legs folded under her. Across from her was Illshya in her true form. She was immense in a way that made the room seem as if it was too small to contain her, yet she looked almost human in appearance. Icy blue eyes pierced Amelia's. A pair of wings were folded on her back and her body was covered in armor the color of blood. Talons at the end of each finger rested in her lap.

"You are troubled," the demon observed.

"My lady, what does this all mean? That book I found...it can't possibly be true, can it?"

"Ah yes, my child. Soon, all shall be revealed. You are beginning to remember that which has been taken from you, and the world is starting to reveal itself as it truly is."

"I don't understand. AJ and I have always worked for William, haven't we? But yet, even that doesn't sound right. That can't be right. I don't know."

"You are on the correct path, child, to finding out the truth."

"But how? How can I really discover what is true and what isnt? I don't know what to believe anymore."

"Believe me, my child when I say this: William Beckett is not your friend. He deals in the business of secrets, many of which he has kept from you. For example, haven't you wondered about the scar on your chest?"

Amelia knew which scar the demon was referring to. It was a star shaped mark, just above her left breast, in the middle of her chest.

"My scar? I got that when I was on a mission for William and one of the vampire gangs stabbed me through the chest. I would have died that night if it wasn't for William."

The demon laughed, a harsh and cold sound, like wind whistling through the trees.

"That is what Beckett wants you to think. Have you not wondered why you are only able to access my power at certain times, why you can do no more than summon hellfire, when you know that I am capable of so much more? Or why I cannot move beyond the confines of this room? I will let you in on a secret, my child. William Beckett fears you."

"Fears me?"

"Yes. He is afraid of you, of me. He knows deep inside that I am more powerful than he could ever imagine, and that I could destroy him if given the chance. The scar that you bear on your chest is not from a rival vampire as he would have you believe. The scar is actually a seal, used to contain my power and prevent you from accessing it."

"A seal? Well, how can I break it?" Amelia asked

"The more that you remember, child, the weaker the seal gets. Once you recognize and unlock the power that you hold within you, all will become clear."

"Unlock the power within," she echoed.

"Yes, child. Recognize that I am you, and you are me, and together, we are powerful. Here, I want you to take this," Illshya said, pushing a small blue chest towards Amelia.

"There's no key," Amelia pointed out.

"Child, you are the key. That is your power, all contained within that box. All you need to do is believe in that power, and reclaim it as your own "

"Reclaim the power as my own?"

"Yes. Take that with you. You will be needing that power in the future," the demon said.

Before Amelia could ask what she meant, she was thrust forcefully back into consciousness.

As she opened her eyes, she felt a new sense of purpose.

"Time to reclaim my power," she declared.

"I'm only wearing this because it's necessary." AJ said for maybe the twentieth time that week as she and William walked into the building where the meeting was taking place.

It was very unusal of the Ancient Ones to be hosting in such a mortal place, it was in this little tourist trap of a landmark somewhere near the banks of the lake, it was a lighthouse with a history as rich as the Dandies mansion.

The grounds were empty, and AJ got a chill as soon as she looked up into the light tower, was it just her imagination, or was there a flash of red fabric?

"I saw it as well, love. It's probably just a ruse to catch us off guard. You remember what to say, don't you?" William confirmed her thought as they took the stairs to the main door, though he added the question to what she was already focusing on.

"If they allow me to talk, then yes. Mike wasn't convinced I'd even get a word in." She smiled softly, lacing their fingers and squeezing his gloved hand a bit tighter.

To their surprise, the door before them opened smoothly, and lead into the main hall of the lighthouse. The area smelled of sea salt and something close to wet dog, although there was something else that had both vampires curling lips into snarls.

"Garlic." AJ whispered, not turning her head but still looking at William before she added, "Baby, I don't think this is a good idea. We should not be here."

A slow clap from somewhere in the lighthouse made both of them look around, and at the sound of a voice William by now could pinpoint, he moved to shield AJ, putting her behind him though he still held onto her hand.

"Look at that, guess it's true, age doesn't mean you get smarter."

Stepping out from the shadow of the staircase was the young man AJ had seen in the file in William's office, the one with the shaggy black hair and the red striped hoodie.

"Why don't you come over here, let me get a good look at you, hm? Pretty little thing knows when she's in danger," he continued, though as soon as AJ poked her head out from around William's side his grip tightened, hand moving from having their fingers laced to her wrist.

"Peter, if this was your idea of a confrontation I must say I'm underwhelmed. I'd hoped our meeting would be...more...thought out." AJ spoke, knowing by now that this was the vampire William had sired long before her.

Before the black haired vampire could reply, another man stepped out, this one wielding a sword, although it looked like he didn't want to have it with him. The letter had said to talk, after all.

"Wow, Beckett. Even talks like you, how long'd that take to reprogram?" Came the sneer as the blade was twirled, though seconds later the blade was across the room with the flick of William's free hand.

"Your letter said to talk. I intend to cooperate, should you do the same."

"Good, I've told the others that, hopefully Pete doesn't let his quest for revenge blindside him." A third man spoke, this one wearing a trucker hat and converse.

"What's there to talk about?" AJ asked, trying to pull away from William to see what was going on.

"You, blondie." Pete's tone was straight to the point, the emphasis enough to make AJ wonder what a group of hunters wanted to do with her, being they'd arranged this just to find her.

What the hell was going on?

After talking with the demon, Amelia was determined to reclaim her power and put an end to William's tyranny. Since they would most likely be gone for another day or so, she wanted to make sure that she had all of the answers. She grabbed a small notebook and, after completing her patrol, went back up to the attic, loosened the board and removed the scrapbook. She had been coming up here every day since she had spoken with the demon, and she could feel herself growing stronger each day. She just wanted to look over her notes and make sure she had everything.

Flipping to the first page in her notes, she had written down a few things. Full name: Amelia Raven Clearwater. Age: 25 Interests: Magic, reading, yoga Job: Assassin Residence: California, and so on. Soon, she was able to recall almost everything. She even remembered Patrick, and remembered talking with him prior to coming to Chicago. The one thing that was still fuzzy was the night that she and AJ had been brought here. She was flipping through the pages, searching for some kind of clue. In fact, she was so absorbed in her work that she didn't notice someone coming up behind her.

"You're not supposed to be up here," came a voice in her ear.

She wheeled around and came face to face with Mike, who was grinning.

"What's that you've got there?" he asked

Amelia knew there was no way for her to feign innocence, so she replied, "Just doing a bit of light reading."

He grabbed the book from the floor and made a face.

"Oh man, you are going to be in so much trouble when William finds out."

"You're going to tell on me? What are you, like 12?"

"I mean normally, I would, but I'm feeling a little generous. I promise that I won't tell William that I found you up here."

Amelia didn't trust him at all.

"That's not like you. What's the catch?"

"Why does there have to be a catch? Can't I simply do something nice for once? Although," he said as he came behind her and kneeled, "if you really want to make sure I'll keep my mouth shut, you'll let me have a taste of your blood."

Although it was probably some kind of a trick, anything to keep him quiet would do.

"Fine, if it'll shut you up, go ahead."

"Excellent," he murmured, his lips against her neck.

She stiffened in pain before relaxing back into him. As soon as he was finished, he helped her to her feet as the wound healed itself. He watched her put the book back into its hiding spot and led her back down the stairs. As she walked out of the library, he called, "Remember, I never saw you there."

Amelia went back to her room to focus on more of her deep meditation. She was so close to breaking the seal that it was only a matter of time before it was rendered useless. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she continued to meditate.

Meanwhile, Mike went and found Brendon, who was walking up from the basement.

"We've got a problem," he said.

Brendon looked at him and followed him into the kitchen.

"She knows," was all that he said.

"What?! How?"

"I found her upstairs, looking through the dumb scrapbook that William insisted on making to commemorate the whole thing. And, I tasted her blood. Her memories are intact. She knows, Brendon. Everything," Mike said.

"Shit, that's not good. Think I should call William?"

"I would. Who knows what she'll do with that information now that she has it? But he's gonna be pissed, that seal took forever to put into place, the mind control was even worse, you remember."

"Yeah, cuz I was the one the did it. Atleast Adeline won't be much of a problem, she's easy to control, all she needs are a few glares and bite marks," Brendon snickered, though he shrugged at the same time. "But no, I'll try to call him tonight. Pretty sure whatever meeting they're at can't take too long."


	10. Chapter 10

"We've heard the stories from the other vampires we hunt, how you're the little security lapdogs for the Dandies. How you're supposed to keep everyone else in check."

"And I do a damn job of it, too." It nearly was a growl from the short blonde, though Pete rolled his eyes at hearing William immediately shush her.

"But don't you wonder how you got there in the first place?" Joe asked, before Patrick cut in. "Easy, we don't want to throw her into it."

"Throw her into what?" This time William's concerned, clearly this meeting was intended for Adeline alone.

"You know, this would be easier if we split up, the girl could come with us." Pete spoke up as Andy followed him to walk forward, each to one side of William.

"And I'm to expect you'll hold your word of this being just to talk? I don't think so." William countered.

"You don't seem to be so eager to hold that promise up yourself, Beckett."

William shrugged, though he was smiling as he turned to look at AJ.

"Adeline, sweetheart, what do you think? It's been awhile since I've really been in on a good tussle," one hand reached to untie the ribbon that was in her hair, the other letting go of her hand to sweep down to rest against the small of her back.

She looked up at him and grinned.

"You really think I'd give up the opportunity to see you take on a pack of hunters? I'll join in myself if you'll let me, show them that I'm really not as weak as they think."

A snort from the other side of the room turned their heads, the one with the katana was twirling it and whistling, obviously itching for a fight.

"Right, like you're going to be able to move in what you're wearing."

Before anyone else could say anything, AJ had tugged off one of her heels and chucked it, eyes blazing.

"You wanna say that again, you pathetic excuse for-"

"Not so quick now, love." Before she can snap herself in front of the red hoodie wearing vampire to really show the group that she's serious, there's another warning from William.

"Well, you gonna jump in or not?" She practically whined.

"She's right you know. it's been a long time since we've seen you fight. Last time I think is when we all ended up arrested," interjected the last of the hunters, this causing Pete to snarl at the memory, he'd been so close to finally landing a hit on William before he'd disappeared into nothing.

"And you should've been kept longer, I only let you go because Amelia asked. Didn't want you hurt more than you already were." William explained, slipping his gloves off and placing them in one of the pockets of the suit jacket.

"At least that one still has a sense of humanity." Patrick noted, not expecting the hiss from the girl at the word.

"It's better to not have that. No guilt, no remorse, no feelings of any kind really. Do you know how many people I could kill if I didn't have a set list to help protect the city? How many early twenty-something men I could annihilate before sunrise? The girls I could promise the fairytale lives they've always wanted before I watch the life leave their eyes? And there's the little ones, blindly following after a princess hoping to see the castle...it's too easy. Mundane."

AJ picked at her nails before reaching to loosen the high collar of the dress she wore, it was bad enough the corset was restricting movement. Oh, wait- With a snap she was in front of the raven haired vampire, one hand raised to gently stroke his cheek, though her eyes glowed slightly with determination.

"Just like you, come to think of it. You're a vampire, you should bear the title with pride and use it to your advantage, not hunt others like yourself. Just imagine how much more powerful you'd be if you'd leave them and join us! You'd be on a really short leash, but atleast you won't have to worry about getting killed."

"Pete. Don't. Move." Patrick's voice is tense, this is exactly what he didn't want happening.

"What? It's not like she's gonna hurt me, she's a lady, they're trained not to hit people," came the sarcastic reply, the shorter vampire imitating the accent most of the Dandies had.

"You wish, sweetheart." And AJ was smirking, hand at her side already balled into a fist by the time she raised it to connect with Pete's face.

"I'm allowed to hit all I want, it's the gentlemen that are never to hit a lady." She flexed her fingers, trying to play off the residual sting of the impact.

Pete only looked at her and scoffed.

"One punch? That all you got, princess?"

"Watch it, fang boy. Could kill your friends first and make you watch." Her voice was deadly, an undertone of glee having seeped into it. She turned to look at Patrick, smiling as she shrugged and walked towards him.

"And I think I'll start with you, since you're the one that created that vile concoction that keeps him from human blood."

When she reached out a hand towards him - intending to play around with the prey for a bit before going for the kill, she didn't see someone take a running start to stop her.

"TOUCH PATRICK AND YOU'RE DEAD!"

She was on the ground in seconds, Pete having barrelled into her from the side with a feral growl. The minute he regained posture from the tackle, his hands were fists aiming for anything on the female vampire that would hurt, though he was able to pin her to the ground on his own.

After a particular hard hook to the eye that left the blonde gritting her teeth at the reactive thump of the back of her head colliding with the pavement, she huffed and managed to wink with the eye that was going to be ringed for the next who-knew how long.

"Are you bored yet? I've been through worse doing my job." She sighed, turning her head to look at William, who had crossed his arms over his chest and was shaking his head, as if telling her to stop before things snapped.

"Oh hun, I'm just getting started. However long it takes to make you realize things weren't always like this." Pete managed, before he noticed her eyes had widened and he suddenly found himself being lifted into the air.

"Are you done playing around with my mate? By the looks of it, she might say she's fine, but I know otherwise. And since I bit you, I'd've thought you'd know better to never hit a lady."

That's why the grip on the scruff of his hoodie is so tight, Pete realizes. William's yanked him clean off the blonde, and is pissed.

"If that means I get to take you down, by all means then yes." Pete managed as he was dropped, noticing Andy and Joe were trying to run to his aid.

Of course, they couldn't get just close enough to do any good because both William and AJ had flicked their wrists, each one sending a hunter into the adjacent wall.

"You can keep playing, boys, but this won't be fun for long!" AJ singsonged as she tried to pull herself to her feet, stumbling slightly thanks to the amount of fabric that was surrounding her, never minding the dull thump in the back of her head.

As soon as she was sitting up, William looked her over, one hand continually forcing the hunters to keep their distance as he did so.

"Sit. You've done enough, I can handle the rest." He assured, kissing her forehead as her eyes closed and she winced.

"But I want to he-"

"I said I've got it." His tone was firmer as he reached for the derby to take it off, setting it on her head before slipping out of the suit jacket and wrapping it around her.

She nodded, falling quiet as the brim of the hat slipped over her eyes slightly, watching as he turned to look at the hunters.

There was something about seeing him like this that made her entire body react - she already knew the fight with Pete had started the adrenalin, but watching William now was making it all worse, despite the ache in her face and head.

Without the cloak, suit jacket, derby and the gloves, he almost looked human as he took a fighting stance, chocolate gaze asking someone to challenge him.

And then she noticed the glint of the metal chain from the pocketwatch she'd gotten him for his birthday the year prior. Not a detail was out of place and she hated to think of the reaction if blood got on anything.

"Come on boys, why stop the show? You know there's only one of you that can truly fight me and live."

Pete was standing, calculating the odds. Yeah, Patrick had told him not to let it turn into a fight, but he hadn't started it in the first place. It wasn't like anything went the way it was planned anyways.

Hence that he wasn't surprised when William caught the next punch that was thrown at him after a head on rush, all but spinning to bend the shorter's arm back, merely rolling his eyes.

"HEAD ON LIKE THAT?! REALLY DUMBASS?!" AJ called from the sidelines, wary of the other three hunters, seeing the one she'd wanted to kill originally beginning to walk towards her again.

Fuck, does he really want to talk to me that bad?

She giggled as she snapped, appearing in front of him a few seconds later.

"So. No fight, hey? How's that working out so far?" She teased, though she heard William yell at her before his attention was redirected.

"This was just to talk to you, Adeline. We didn't think William would come along. I'm Patrick, surely you must remember me?" He asked.

She looked over him, trying to think where she'd heard that name.

"I'm sorry...I can't say I do. but really, you think you're going to talk to me alone? You'd be better off finding me during a patrol instead of this elaborate scheme you've set up...that's if there's another chance given William probably won't let you leave here alive." She commented, not meeting Patrick's eyes.

"I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?" he tried, realizing that yeah, Pete had done some damage after all.

"Wrong." And with a flick of her hand, Patrick was thrown back into the wall, head colliding with the windowsill before he slumped to the ground, clearly knocked unconscious.

Looking around for the other two hunters, AJ grinned. If William could handle Pete, there's no reason she couldn't handle the others.

Approaching them as they watched Pete and William, she nodded slightly.

"You really think you boys can make yourselves hurt a lady?" She asked, pulling off her other shoes to set it down so she could move better.

"Please, you're no lady." Scoffed the one with the sword as it was pulled from its casing.

With that, it became a dance, she trying to avoid a hit from either hunter as blows were exchanged.

Across the room, William and Pete were dodging each other just as much, though it was clearly taking a toll on both of them.

Managing to block one of Pete's punches because it was predictable at best, William moved to sweep the younger vampire's legs out from under him before lifting a foot to pin him down, the heel of the dress shoe pressing in along the shorter's ribcage.

"I have to say, Peter, I'm disappointed. I thought you were stronger than this. Though, I suppose that's what happens when you subsist only on animal blood," William said.

"Better than killing innocents." Pete choked out as William stepped harder, gaze leaving his opponent briefly to scan the room to see Adeline toe to toe with two of the hunters.

Before he could get himself to her side, Pete had reacted and freed himself, managing to land a few punches along William's side and jaw. This of course, was easily countered and had Pete on the floor again in a few seconds with a flick of the wrist.

"If you'd use your telekinesis you might actually be able to get somewhere. I didn't turn you for you to fight like a pathetic human. While you're at it, enough of the animal blood, it clouds your judgment. You might think you're doing the right thing, but you're only selling yourself short." William admonished as he watched the action around him, surprised Adeline could hold her own after all even after he'd told her no.

"I refuse to kill like you. I refuse to sink to that level," Pete said, struggling to his feet.

William all but snorted in disbelief.

"Aw come on, don't tell me you've never even wondered how it tastes, how it feels to take the life of another, to feel the power leaving their body and entering yours. No? Pity," William remarked, delivering another kick to Pete's midsection just as he was steadying himself. Pete groaned as it sent him back a good ten feet, coughing up blood when the shock of the impact passed.

Noticing Andy and Joe had gotten the girl into a rather troubling spot, Pete turned to William and grinned.

"I don't need to continue this fight to make a point. You're more powerful than me, yes, but that doesn't mean you'll win all the time. Maybe it's a good thing you came along."

There was the head tilt, William had no idea what he was going to be watching in a few seconds.

"Because like how the girl tried to go after Patrick, I'm gonna even the score."

And with a snap he was behind AJ, one hand grabbing her left arm while the other reached to grab her hip to hold her still as Andy reached for the right, seconds before Joe's knife entered her body, the katana being disregarded for something that would cause more damage.


	11. Chapter 11

The scream that left her on impact was almost human with the amount of pain that was behind it, and the blood that flooded to stain the new dress was the final straw for William, whose eyes shifted black as he sprinted to her side.

At William finally understanding what Pete had meant, both Andy and Joe retreated, the latter being nice enough to pull the blade from the girl's abdomen, though it left her whimpering in pain.

Andy had picked Patrick up from the floor and he and Joe were supporting the techie, Pete watching the two.

"She'll remember sooner or later, William. You can't stop that."

And with a small wave, Pete was gone, the rest of the hunters following him back to the base.

The resulting chaos was something neither were used to.

Upon the boys letting her go, AJ had collapsed to knees and leaned forward, trying to remember that she wasn't going to die, it was just going to hurt a lot for awhile.

"Fuck! Ow ow a-ah damn it..." Her head snapped up at William's hand on her shoulder, helping her sit up and lie back, anything to aggravate the wound was only going to prolong her pain.

"Atleast you had multiple layers on, it might not be as deep as you think." he started, immediately trying to undo the collar and front lacing before he resigned to trying to undo it from the back, being it wasn't really a dress, more of multilayered tops and skirts.

When the first two layers were off, he managed to undo the front facing clasps of her corset by snapping, easing the straps off her shoulders to expose her abdomen to see where the damage was worst.

The small blade hadn't hit anything life threatening as far as he could tell, it was maybe only as deep as two inches and just above her navel, though the amount of blood that was visible made the injury look far more threatening than it appeared to be.

"W-William, how b-bad is it? It h-hurts to b-breathe..." She complained breathlessly, head lulling to the side as her eyes closed, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"You'll be fine, darling. It's nothing a few kills won't fix. We're not going back home tonight, you need to rest. We'll get a room overlooking the lake, there's got to be something around here." He explained as one hand undid the button at his sleeve, biting his wrist before offering it to her - if his blood could atleast kickstart the healing maybe they wouldn't need to take the extra night away from home.

And then he remembered. Today would have been her human birthday. Hell of a way to spend it, almost dying... again. He'd gotten lucky that she'd been so easy to control - if the fight was any indication of the things she'd picked up, it was a good thing none of it was directed at him. She could get mad and at times downright childlike, but he knew she'd never give in to the darker sides all vampires somehow had.

He was brought out of his thoughts by her nails digging into his arm, her bite having more pressure behind it.

"Adeline, easy. This was only to start the healing, as soon as we find a place for the night I'll take care of the rest." Gently easing her mouth off his wrist, he smiled when he noticed she was pulling that look again.

"We're already not going home tonight, and with you in this condition, not, you're not getting what you want this time."

This was met with a soft laugh from the blonde, who winched again at the pain it caused before speaking.

"Alright, alright...I'll listen for once. I just have bad feeling that something's wrong, it'd help take my mind off it."

William rolled his eyes as he tried to figure out how to pick her up without hurting her more, though it seemed like the wound had already began to close. When she was cradled into his arms, he stood and looked around - finding the heels she'd worn stuck into a nearby wall, though the shoe part wasn't to be found. Wasn't like they were expensive or anything, right?

It wasn't worth going after the hunters that night - as much as he wanted to, he knew he'd never hear the end of it if he left her in a hotel room by herself.

"Hang on sweetheart, this'll get better, I swear."

Half an hour later, William had found a small motel and, though it was far below the kind of thing he was used to, booked a room for the night anyways. This was in part to the staff being the type that probably wouldn't care to ask questions of their appearance, which he was grateful for.

After getting into the room and setting her down on the bed, he sat in one of the nearby chairs and dropped his head into his hands.

Things sure weren't working out like they were supposed to be. He should have realized that letter was a trap - in complete honesty, he'd known. It'd been her insistence that landed them where they were now.

And then, his cell phone went off.

Not even bothering to look at the caller id, he answered.

"Hello? You know this is only to be used in emergencies."

There was some shuffling on the other end of the line before Brendon of all people answered.

"This kind of is, sir. It's a large issue."

William took two seconds to pull the phone away from his ear and stare at it, wanting to throw it through the window. As if it was one more thing that needed to go wrong.

"Is anyone dead or is it something with the house?" He wondered, though he was beginning to understand why Adeline had said she'd just had a feeling something was wrong.

"Well, no - not exactly." He could tell Brendon's voice was shaky, this was something that he really didn't want to be talking about.

"Well then by all means, Brendon, do inform me of said issue. Adeline and I aren't exactly in a position where we can assist with it right away, but I'll add it to the to do list that never seems to end," William nearly threatened, growing absolutely fed up with the second-in-command's ability to communicate.

It was quiet on the line for a few seconds before Brendon gulped.

"It's Amelia. She's remembering."

There wasn't another word before the phone had collided with the wall as William sighed angrily.

All that of course, startled Adeline, who bolted upright and looked around wide-eyed at the sound of the phone hitting the wall. When she realized what it'd been from, she only looked at him and grinned.

"Yeah, baby, you really need to learn how to relax. And what happened to fixing this, hm?"

Struggling slightly to undo her corset, she found the deepest part of the wound had repaired itself, though it still hurt to move and the surrounding skin was covered in dried blood and frayed edges of fabric.

"Really? Couldn't even get all this blood off me? If I didn't know better I'd say you like seeing me hurt like this."

William's head turned slowly at that, the comment wasn't meant to sting, in fact it had an edge that he knew the intention of too well by now.

"Said it before and I'll say it again, you're a masochist. Don't assume that means I like seeing you in pain, because I don't." His tone was sharp, he was sick of dealing with everything and everyone at this point and really would've preferred to be left alone.

"Ooh, attitude." She teased, winking as she raised a hand to pull him towards her, not missing the rarely seen completely exasperated expression that had appeared across his face. "Y'know what would fix that?"

Another giggle, and this time he's sure the aftershock of the day is making her loopy, there's no way in her right mind she'd be doing this if she really knew the turmoil his mind was in.

It's a few seconds before they're nose to nose, one of her hands locked around the knot in his tie, her eyes blown with obvious lust.

So much for this not going where it always goes.

"Adeline? No, damn it, you're injured. I'm not going to-"

"Oh? Where was that five years ago after the lessons, hm? Live a little. And besides, it's my birthday. Let's do something special." She shot back, and suddenly the knot that her fingers rested on was warm, a dull burn that was something close to accidentally touching a pot as it was starting to boil. Was she already picking up his pyrokinetic tendencies?

"I'd think being ambushed by a group of hunters would qualify as something special, but in any case - you're impossible." came the defeated sigh, before he snapped and teleported out of her reach, sweeping her into his arms to carry her into the bathroom despite the protests.

"You want that blood off of you, fine, but I can't promise you'll stay clean, love."

It was four days later after William and AJ had returned home - neither one talking about what had happened while they were gone, and Amelia had managed to act like everything was normal, though she was just waiting to strike.

AJ had gone out just after sunset with the twins to run errands, and William was out at a city council meeting for the night. Planning to confront him when he returned, she texted AJ a few extra things that 'William' said needed to be done while she was out in order to buy some time.

It was shortly after midnight when Amelia sensed William's presence enter the mansion. She was practically buzzing with excitement. After taking a few minutes to calm herself, she collected herself and walked down to the basement with a renewed sense of purpose. She walked to the room where the captive girls were kept and politely waited for William to emerge.

"Amelia, what are you still doing up? I would have assumed you'd be sleeping since you have your patrols in the morning," he said, wiping his arm on his sleeve.

"Well, I would be, but I was hoping that we could talk, just the two of us," she replied.

"Of course, I'm all ears. What would you like to talk about?" he asked, smiling.

Amelia raised her hand and with a flick of her wrist, closed the door separating this area of the basement from the rest of it.

William's eyes narrowed.

"I want to talk about the last five years. I want to talk about how AJ and I were originally sent here to kill you, but instead, we were taken against our will and forced to serve you. I want to talk about all of the lies that you've told us, starting with the one where you said that nothing bad would ever happen to us while we were here."

"I have no idea where any of this is coming from, Amelia, but I suggest you stand down, go upstairs, and forget that any of this ever happened," he said, his tone calm, yet there was something dangerous lingering just underneath.

"No. For the last five years, William Beckett, you have lied to us; you have ordered us around all under the pretense of keeping us safe, and I am sick of it. I refuse to take another order from you."

He rolled up his sleeves and began to walk towards her. "Amelia, this is the last time I am going to tell you. Stand down, or face the consequences. I have had a bad day and therefore cannot be held responsible for my actions should you continue to provoke me."

Amelia laughed. "You sound so tough, William, but I know the truth. You fear me, so much that you sealed away my power because you couldn't handle, for a minute, the thought of someone being better than you. Sure, you might not admit it, but I can see it in your demeanor, the way your body tensed up when I used my power to close the door, the way you're standing taller in an effort to make yourself seem bigger. Well, it's not going to work."

Just as he got within arm's reach of her, she unleashed a huge burst of energy, enough to send him flying backwards.

"See, I know the truth now, William. I know exactly what kind of a person you are. You're nothing more than a monster."

He struggled to his feet and began to circle her, watching her like a hawk. He again tried rushing at her, but before he could move, she was already behind him and had kicked his legs out from underneath him. The two of them went toe to toe for almost 20 minutes, with Amelia using every trick that she knew. In her haste though, she forgot to accommodate for her lack of practice or control. Soon, she became exhausted. William saw this and took advantage of it.

Just as she went to throw a punch, he easily caught her arm and spun her around, trapping her against his body. She struggled against his hold.

"You sure do talk tough for someone so small, but see, you lack control. All of that energy expended and now you're spent. Pity," he said, his voice low.

He scraped his fangs against her neck and Amelia wasn't surprised when she felt him bite her. What did surprise her though, was when he roughly threw her to the ground. She winced as the fragile skin on her neck tore and she felt the blood running freely from the wound.

When she looked up at him, she saw nothing in his eyes, not even a semblance of control. And for once, Amelia was truly frightened. As he advanced on her, in a last ditch effort to save herself, she took some of the blood from her neck, smeared it on her hand, placed her hand on the floor and began to form the words to a spell to summon demonic allies. Before she could finish the incantation however, he had walked over and slammed his foot down, breaking the small bones in her hand and wrist.

It was another second before his hand wrapped around her throat, lifting her into the air until he held her there in front of him, staring her down.


	12. Chapter 12

"You'd really ought to listen when I say something, it's like the people in this house never do. Only reason Adeline does is because she knows better. I knew we should have turned you, but because of the demon Michael was insistent that we rather not. I have to wonder why he's so protective of you... couldn't be that you two have feelings for each other, could it?"

He squeezed her throat tighter, blood dripping from the gash. He didn't even flinch as she kicked at him, trying to free herself.

"Because I'd never let one of my men fall for someone that would betray us, though you were smart to figure all this out. It's been too long though - five years is enough to erase anyone's existence." He sneered, knowing any record of an Amelia Clearwater was lost to the system he controlled, same for Adeline although the records already had her name changed so she couldn't sneak around and get into them.

"Atleast I didn't manufacture feelings while I was at it!" She choked out before he let go, dropping her and kicking at the same time, sending her colliding into a wall.

She cried out in pain at the impact, feeling her head get the brunt of it as her vision swam. Through hazy eyes she watched William step closer, bending to her level to tilt her chin up.

"Have you had time to really look at Adeline when she sees me? None of that is manufactured, dear. It's too bad you didn't know better to keep the status quo. Now that you remember, well, I simply must kill you."

And with how she'd landed, it wouldn't be hard.

"But I'll take it slow. Like how I used to, because unlike you, I have complete control." he threatened, smiling in a near manic way that disturbed Amelia to no end.

There was no way this was William - this was dark, evil and a pure form of rage condensed into a 6'3 immortal being.

She howled in near agony as he stepped down on her ankle before reaching for her kneecap, intending to dislocate a tendon or two along the way.

"Oh hush. Killing you quickly takes the fun out of it!"

"Kill me then!" She challenged, eyes glowing as she tried to summon the demon's power again.

William only tsked and tapped her nose.

"I really should turn you... could just kill you that way, make you live in my world. We'd be bound that way, telepathic link you know - you'd never escape me then." And he laughed, Amelia realizing exactly where AJ got the idea from to be so damn unsettling.

"But no." He raised one hand, fingers dancing across her body until his hand rested over her heart, where she felt heat radiating from as the fabric of her pajamas began to burn against his touch. As his fingers pressed through to her skin, she began to squirm, the heat becoming an uncomfortable burn that was sure to cause blisters - wait, that was how he'd kept AJ under control, how often had she seen the younger girl with burn blisters that she'd been told were something else?

"Before I'd even think about turning you, I'd want to kill you. And I know how - the demon in you loves fire, that we knew. So, call it sweet revenge." he started, smiling.

Amelia could feel William looking at her, and when she met his gaze it was clear he was lost in some kind of trance, he just looked so far gone that maybe it'd be better if she just resigned herself to her fate.

"I will burn the heart out of you."

And naturally, at that moment, the door opened. Predictably, it was AJ.

"Really? You get mad at me for quoting Supernatural so much and you go and quote the villain from Sherlock? For shame, baby." She started, walking into the darkened room, not realizing exactly what was going on until the hand that wasn't locked onto Amelia lifted as he turned his head, sending her flying across the room into the opposite wall.

"AJ!" Amelia yelled, geez, if William had just done that without recognition of who it was, he really was gone.

"I'm-I'm okay. What the hell happened?" She tried, picking herself up.

"ARE YOU BLIND?!" Amelia continued, trying to shake William off her, though he stood wordlessly and turned to face AJ, who was trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.

Her hands raised instinctively to shield herself when she realized William wasn't himself - his gaze was a black hole, chocolate eyes turned charcoal with rage - this was why the mental connection had broke, she'd been out and suddenly she couldn't hear his thoughts or even get ahold of him.

Bad move, because not ten seconds later she was thrown up against the wall, hands pinned above her head, feet dangling off the ground and was staring into void eyes.

She tried to play off whatever had just happened, smiling as she struggled against his hold.

"Uh, sweetheart? Put me down? This isn't funny..."

She sure as hell wasn't expecting the laugh that came from him as heat flared around her wrists and his lips moved across her jawline.

"What's funny, Adeline, is how well you've managed to play along. How long have you and Amelia known the truth for and hid it? I would have thought you'd learned after the first three months not to anger me, you don't remember how scared you were. I'm past that now, lucky for you."

Her eyes widened, trying not to remember as the burn around her grew warmer, to the point where it was almost painful.

"Amelia?! What the fuck does he mean?!" Her voice had jumped an octave and was shaky as she looked around, noticing the girl hadn't moved from the floor at all. The only way she wouldn't have been able to was - no, he couldn't've. William wouldn't actually hurt someone, there was no way. But then, what had he meant by saying he was 'past that now'? She remembered the fights, the broken glasses and burn marks on the walls, neverminding the bitemarks and bruises.

"Well, looks like he's trying to kill you." The brunette deadpanned, though AJ could hear the demon's voice speaking with Amelia's own.

"William, baby, I swear I don't know what you mean! I don't know anything! I've been with you all week, how could-" she paused, crying out as he bit down into her neck quite harshly, her entire body tensing in reaction.

After a few seconds his head moved, though he didn't let her go like she expected. In fact, it was another shock when he grinned and threw her to the ground, her body skidding along the floor until she lay near Amelia, dizzy and starting to understand what he meant.

There was no yelling this time, he was completely calm and this terrified her to no end. Managing to pull herself to her knees, she dragged herself closer to Amelia just as William walked towards them.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Amelia wondered frantically, eyes glowing slightly as the demon realized what AJ meant to do.

"Never seen him like this. It's better me than you. That's not him. And we're going to die." Came the reply as AJ reached for her hand to squeeze it, dropping it right before everything began to burn around them, though this time there was no pain.

Amelia immediately covered her eyes, not wanting to see exactly what she thought had happened.

If his ability to summon fire at will had been bad, his loss of control into what was a psychotic calm only magnified it, as fires burn the hottest when all control is gone. Which is why, at the resound crack of thunder in the underground room, Amelia nearly wished she dead.

William's fire had turned to lightning, though it wasn't sharp enough to hit its mark. If it had, they would have probably died or ended up worse off.

When the initial heat passed, Amelia finally looked up, hoping it was over and he had calmed down.

Instead, he only stood over them, smirking as he whistled.

"Knew I should've killed you both the day I found you. Atleast now I can follow through with it."

Just as it seemed that William was going to finish off the girls, Michael suddenly came up behind him, wrapped his arms around his torso, and began to focus. He could feel all of the pent up rage, hatred, and even fear swirling around inside of William. As he started to concentrate, he was able to feel the emotions shifting from William to him.

William fought him but Michael refused to let go.

"Don't fight me on this, William. Let it go," he said as William thrashed.

Slowly but surely, he was able to draw out all of the negative emotions and absorb them himself. He finally felt William relax, and he let his body go. Wordlessly, William turned around and walked back upstairs. After helping AJ to her feet, she followed him.

Once the two of them had gone away, he turned his attention to Amelia. She was sitting on the ground, a glazed look in her eyes. Her clothes were stained with dark, demonic blood. There was a gaping wound on her neck that oozed blood. Her right wrist lay limply at her side and her left leg was rotated internally, meaning it was most likely broken. When she spoke, her voice was no more than a whisper.

"What did you do?"

He knelt down by her and smiled. "A neat little trick I learned from a merchant once. Took all of William's emotion and basically absorbed it. But don't worry, I'm fine. I'm a little concerned about you though."

She smiled weakly. "What do you mean? I'm...fine."

"I'll be the judge of that, and right now, you look awful. Let me fix you up a bit."

He went to work trying to repair as much of the external damage he could, but in the end, it was too much for his abilities.

His brow furrowed. "All right sheila, I've done as much as I can, but I think you'd be better off in a hospital. Can you stand?"

Amelia muttered incoherently. She was fading fast, and he knew that if he didn't get her to a hospital in time, she would die, demon or not.

To his surprise though, she rose from the floor, unassisted. When she looked at him, her eyes were a bright blue, meaning the demon was in control.

"As I'm sure you can tell, she requires medical assistance. At this point, I am the only thing keeping her alive, but I can feel her slipping away from me. You must act quickly," the demon said

Michael nodded, and he used his body to steady her. Before he could do much though, the demon had opened up a small portal to the outside. Grabbing onto her arm, the two of them walked through it.

They were outside a hospital and thankfully one that catered to supernatural creatures. He led her through the emergency department doors, and that was the last he saw of her before she was placed on a gurney and whisked away by various doctors and nurses. After a few hours, a friendly looking nurse came out and told him that she was stable but that she was sleeping. He agreed to let her sleep and said that he would be back in the morning.


	13. Chapter 13

When he returned to the house, it was absolutely silent, he even doubted William would be in his office thanks to what had happened earlier. To his surprise he found AJ downstairs - curled up on one of the couches in the parlour, tear tracks on her face, wrists wrapped tight with what looked like gauze and medical tape, the left side of her neck bruised and still covered with dried blood, though it appeared she was sleeping.

Turning the lamp off, he meant to walk back to his room, but a small cough made him turn.

She sat up quickly, pulling her knees to her chest with a hiccup before speaking, voice hoarse.

"Please don't be angry with me. I don't know anything, I swear. I've never seen you like that, ever. You have to know I'll be keeping my distance from now on, because I'm afraid, as I should be."

He turned and stepped towards her, eyes widening as the girl threw her arms out in front of her, entire body shaking though she tried to hide it.

"No! Stay away!" There was fear in her voice, a tone that bothered Michael there more he thought about how different it was from her normal one.

"Adeline, it's me." He started, though he stepped back. "It's Michael, I'm the only one awake right now. I just got back from taking Amelia to a hospital, they're keeping her overnight."

"Oh. I thought you were -"

"Yeah. I don't think he's even in his office."

She nodded, rubbing the side of her head.

"Good, maybe he'll leave me alone for a few days. I'm terrified. He's never been so disconnected before. If you hadn't intervened, Amelia and I would have died, I'm sure. Thank you."

Michael offered her a small smile, noticing how she kept glancing at her wrists.

"If you want, I can heal those. Your neck, too." She shook her head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I want William to see the damage, maybe he'll realize why I'm so freaked out."

She sighed, running fingers over the medical tape before another voice broke her thought.

"Michael? Adeline? What are you two doing up this early?" William asked, walking down into the parlour.

AJ immediately tensed.

"Trying to sleep. Michael just got back from taking Amelia to the hospital, she'll be OK I guess." Her tone was clipped, and Michael looked between the two before excusing himself, not wanting to get caught in the middle.

William walked closer, kneeling by the couch to look the younger vampire over - it was obvious she'd been crying, and she was wrapped with gauze and tape in some spots. But there was no need for that, she wasn't human.

"What's all this for, darling?" he asked, reaching to run fingers across one of the pads of gauze.

She flinched at his touch, nearly snarling, "You're kidding me, right?"

His head tilted, there was no reason for her to be acting so strange. She'd hurt herself somehow, and he absolutely wanted to know why.

"What's there for me to make a joke of? You're hurt." He repeated, taking one of her hands before she pulled away, green eyes darkened with fear.

He hadn't seen her like this since the first few months she and Amelia had lived in the house, when they overstepped every boundary and had a hell of a time learning where they stood.

"It's your fault, jackass!"

His eyes widened in clear disbelief - sure, there'd been the times he'd only done things to get her to listen to him, but they'd never caused a reaction like this. Not in the last four years, anyways.

When he didn't move, she tore the wrapping off one of her arms and snapped with her other hand, most of the lights in the room coming on instantly.

"See? Any of that ring a bell!?" Her eyes had grown even darker, and he could make out tear tracks on her face.

When he looked at her wrist, at first, he didn't notice it, it was no worse than a few weeks ago after she'd been insistent about his office turning into her playground. And then came the edges of the outlines, rougher and reddened, the inside swollen and blistered to where it just looked painful. Making it worse was realizing what exactly the burns were mimicking.

His fingers.

His mind reeled, there was no way he would have intentionally hurt her this badly, it just wasn't like him. Looking back at her, he met her gaze.

"Adeline, love, I'm sorry, whatever I-"

"You don't get to say sorry. You nearly killed me!" she snapped, darkened eyes glowing slightly.

"It was an honest mistake, I can explain!"

"HONEST MISTAKE?! BECKETT, AMELIA IS IN. THE. FUCKING. HOSPITAL!" The blonde roared, sitting up and absentmindedly making her hands into fists.

Before she could stop herself, she'd actually punched him, not thinking.

Somehow, he let her.

"Neither of you listened to me, and you needed to learn."

"So the answer was nearly killing us!? Actually, Amelia was technically dead, had it not been for Ilshya somehow keeping her alive until Michael got her to the hospital! After what you did, they way you - you just were a shell of rage and darkness! I don't want to be around you, why do you think I'm not upstairs?"

He shook his head, trying to think of an argument.

"I didn't want to hurt you, I swear, that was never my intent. It was a lapse in judgement, I was blinded by rage."

"Like that lightning literally nearly blinded us," she managed before she felt herself choking up, he'd raised a hand to wipe at the tears that were forming and she wanted nothing to do with it, "William, just leave me alone."

His hand lowered as he tilted his head slightly, blinking slowly before he protested.

"I can heal you, those marks aren't bad. We both know you've had worse, darling."

She only scoffed and met his gaze, eyes black.

"I've had worse because of you, and though you may dress that up as victorian etiquette lessons I think I've been in this relationship far too long to realize that's not the case anymore. You may buy me all the fancy dresses in the world and make sure this mansion is pristine like my childhood longings, but the burn marks tell a different story now," she found herself saying, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she thought of finally leaving based on whatever Amelia knew - "And by the way, Amelia is right, about whatever she knows. I won't be staying long once these heal and I feel well enough to leave."

She was startled by the resounding crack of a nearby vase hitting the wall and shattering to pieces, at least this time William's telekinesis wasn't directed at her. When she looked at him, he only sighed and tried to calm himself down.

"Adeline Jeanette, you are not leaving. You're not even sure what she's right about. We can work through this, we've been through worse in the past five years for you to walk away now." His voice was level, and his eyes were glassy, almost as though he was about to cry himself.

"You can't. I need you. You keep me sane, there's so much I'd do if I lost you now." His hand moved to hold hers, and she could feel how he was shaking, this scenario having crossing his mind before evidently.

"I can't tell you the path I'd find, or the control that would be lost. I'd revert - to the days back when I hadn't gotten my bloodlust under control, and I'd hate to see the outcome."

She nodded somberly, turning her arms over as he held her hand so he could see the burns again.

"You hurt me, William. This will take a while to recover from, but if you're this shaky over me wanting to leave, I suppose I owe you a chance at rectifying your behaviour. I'm still not coming upstairs tonight though." She said softly, looking at him with now-green eyes.

"I understand, and of course, love, I'll try. I swear. And that's your choice, it's ok. I won't be upstairs tonight then, I'll have a fire and keep watch over you."

He'd gone nearly quiet now, relief flooding his voice at her words. She smiled gently and rubbed at her wrists a bit, sighing when her eyes slipped shut.

"I suppose I could let you heal me, you are apologizing after all. And that's fine as well, you keeping watch. It'll be just like it was when Amelia and I first got here, with you trying to keep Mike and Brendon away..."

It was quiet for a few moments until William stood and walked to the mantle, fingertips tracing the frames that decorated it, mind lost in memories of when the photographs within them were new. Even then, Adeline had been smiling, and so had he - it was so rare that the boys often joked that those photos were never meant to see the light of day, being they looked so close to formal engagement announcements.

"And apparently they still haven't learned, atleast one of them hasn't." He pointed out, noticing the shift in her tone as soon as the boys were mentioned.

Lifting a hand off the ornate wood, he snapped and felt the heat circle the room as the fireplace came to life. It was moments like these he wished they were back in England - between the mists that would roll in and the rain that would pelt the windows, the reflection of the flames glowing softly and the warmth easing the London air was like knowing immortality again, if only for as long as the embers burned.

"I'd put him in his place but it wouldn't be in mine to do that," she admitted, eyes opening again as her gaze was drawn to the fireplace, the wood already crackling softly with orange and yellow flames. "I just- for once...tell me the truth."

He turned to look at her, hazel eyes nearly glowing from the refracted light.

"About what? What would I ever have to lie about?" It was a smile now as he walked back to the couch, ignoring her protests as he picked her up to cradle her before sitting back down, she trying her best to look mad at the fact she was trapped in a mess of blankets and being held.

"You. Me. Us." Each word was a whisper, and she didn't dare look at him. "How I got here, how - I mean I know how you turned me, but...why?"

He gave a heavy sigh, one hand gently carding through her curls as he hummed something he used to sing to her.

"You were good at what you did, and I didn't want you killed while you were working for me. You remember the night you and Amelia were jumped, right?"

Adeline's head tilted.

"Babe, no? We weren't-"

"I had Brendon mindblank most of the traumatic part, but you've got the scars to prove it. Bastard and his gang had the two of you at knifepoint, once we got you to safety here I went back and ripped their throats out myself."

She shuddered, his voice had turned to a growl again.

"And that night you were just so scared, thinking it would happen again. I think that was the night Carden cornered you as well, which only made things worse. I had to do something about it, s-"

"I remember the new dress, the flowy white one you gave me after I woke back up...what'd you call it?"

"The awakening? And how you got blood on it not five seconds later?" He laughed softly, kissing her forehead. "Whenever I sire someone, customary rule of mine is they get new clothes, signifying the new life. It's why the boys have white derbies, you the dress."

"Oh...but still, was it just to protect me then, or?" She continued, nodding as she remembered the flowing dress that still had blood splatters on it despite being washed multiple times.

His eyes shut.

"Not entirely, no. I usually care less about those we employ, but when Adam carried you in all bloody and nearly writhing in pain I wasn't about to let you die."

"But you never said wh-"

"Adeline, hush. I know what you're trying to do, and I'm not going to say it. I should never say it again after what I did tonight." He admitted, tone heavy.

She huffed and rolled her eyes, refusing to look at him.

"That never stopped you after the lessons, did it?"

His hand was beneath her chin at that, and though his gaze burned, it was gentle.

"Your life was never in danger during those times, I was controlled and aware of what I was doing. I said it then because I knew I could mean it, after tonight - I'm afraid I'd only make things worse."

She scowled again, trying not to curl her upper lip into a snarl, he was just so stubborn.

"Would you just fucking say it! I can't listen to you trying to avoid it after all this - your admission earlier states how you can't stand to lose me, and yet you won't say the one thing that would keep me around longer than the burns would, pending if they ever heal."

He was quiet, not moving for a few seconds at her words. And suddenly, there she was, back on the couch in the mess of blankets as he was up and pacing in front of the fire.

"They'll heal. And I'll not say it, do not make me repeat myself! I saved you that night and that's that, I owe you no further explanation. Now stop questioning me and sleep!"

She gasped at his tone, this was equal to earlier that day, or was it the night before now?


	14. Chapter 14

She couldn't take this any longer, and she struggled to get out of the blankets as he stood watching her, an almost amused smirk playing on his face.

"What's wrong now, love? Don't like it when I tell you what to do?"

She giggled, shaking her head.

"You just don't get it, do you? I love you, and if you don't have the decency to say it back after hurting me both emotionally and physically like this, maybe you don't know me at all. I'm bad at giving only one second chance, and I'm a sucker for toxic surroundings and relationships. When I say I love you, I expect you to fucking. Say. It. Back!"

She stood on the last three words, throwing her arms down at her sides with her hands fisted as she yelled, the room going dark as the energy in the room swirled and extinguished the fire, a few frames falling off the mantle.

Her curls were electrified with her energy, bouncing as she glared at the elder vampire, stalking up to him and reaching up to his shoulders, pushing him back until he was flush against the siding of the mantle.

From somewhere in the kitchen there was a crash, but neither paid attention to it. And yet there Mike and Brendon were, watching from the sidelines and trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

"Dude, she's got him against the fireplace and she is pissed." Brendon said after Adeline had yelled, covering any noise the two had made in getting glasses.

"Pissed as in that kind of pissed or someone's going to die pissed?"

"Both? You know how she is."

"Yeah, usually I think I'm going to die in that case. Dunno why William doesn't let me around her more. If I'd been around tonight I could have kept whatever's happening now from going down." Mike shrugged, drinking from the glass that he'd poured, he could tell from her voice that she'd been crying, it wasn't the first time he'd heard her tone like that.

"From what Chislett said, there's probably not much we could have done. It's why Amelia's not here, he took her into the ER or something. Guess William had another episode." Brendon explained, setting down his glass as they both fell quiet to listen to the other room.

It was strangely quiet, until they realised they could hear Adeline sobbing again.

"I can't take this. One of these days we're not going to be able to stop him, and he's going to do something really stupid. It's why I always try to stick around, we've seen him with the girls before her, I know he's prone to relapse soon. And God I don't want to watch that and not doing anything."

Mike went to walk towards the foyer, knowing he'd probably get yelled at in the process, but Brendon put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just let it go. You can't wrestle with feelings like that. You've never dealt with them well."

The glare was deathly, one hand running through his hair, almost as though he was subconsciously mirroring Adeline's nervous habit.

"No one ever does when you're in love."

Brendon literally froze, allowing Mike to slip into the next room.

"Wh-what?"

"I love her, can't you tell? I thought it was obvious. But she's so scared of me it wouldn't matter anyways."

And he turned, catching the thing he didn't want to pay attention to, never wanted to acknowledge.

Because where Adeline had been yelling at her lover not five minutes earlier, they now were into another scene, William's hands wrapped up in her hair with her hands yanking his tie to pull him down to her level, lips glued together.

At the small moan leaving Adeline, Mike felt his lip curl into a snarl, damn it HE should be the one making her sound like that. Turning around to walk back into the kitchen, he grabbed the glass of blood and snapped, teleporting himself back to his room without another look towards the foyer or Brendon.

The next morning, Michael woke as the sun rose and after completing his patrol, he went back to the hospital to visit Amelia, who was still sleeping. He pulled up a chair next to her bed and observed the steady rise and fall of her chest. For once, since he had first met her five years ago, she looked to be at peace. He sat there for a while, watching as various nurses came in, checking her IV sites and medication rates and such.

He checked his watch. It was shortly after 3 and he wasn't expected to be back for a few more hours. He wanted to get up and stretch. As he got up, he heard Amelia say, "Wait, don't go yet." He turned around and smiled.

"Relax, I'm not going anywhere. How are you feeling?" he asked as she sat up

"Better, now that I've slept."

There was a pause.

"Thank you for what you did for us last night. If you hadn't stepped in, AJ and I would both be dead. I've never seen William get so mad before."

Michael smirked.

"I can't say I've ever seen him that out of control before, but he's gotten pretty mad in the past, usually when Mike or Brendon did something stupid to piss him off. What did you say to him?"

"I basically told him that I was fed up with him. He lied to us, Michael! All of you did! We never really worked for William. We were taken captive after we were sent to kill you guys five years ago, and I have had enough of it!" Amelia declared, eyes flashing blue

Her heart rate increased, sending a nurse scurrying into the room.

"Everything okay in here?" she asked

"Everything is fine," Amelia said as her heart rate returned to normal. "Just got a little excited, that's all."

As soon as the nurse left the room, Michael sighed. He knew this would happen sooner or later.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to leave. As soon as I get out of here, I'm going to pack my things, find the man who sent us here in the first place, and hope to god that I never see William again. Because the next time I do, I'll kill him."

"He'll come looking for you. You know that, right?"

"I don't care. Let him look all he wants. He's not going to be pleased when he finds me, though."

Michael had to laugh at her stubbornness.

"What's so funny?" she demanded

"Nothing, nothing. Between the two of us, though, if you're going to make your escape, I'd do it tonight. I happen to know for a fact that as soon as night falls, William is taking all of us, except Andy and Adam of course, out for a proper hunt, meaning there will be no one to stop you from leaving. But you didn't hear that from me. I've got to get going, though. Don't want them to get suspicious," he said as he stood up to leave.

As he reached the door, she called to him. "Why are you helping me?"

He didn't have a good answer. Instead he said, "I'll see you around, shelia," and walked out of the room.

Miraculously, after Michael left, the nurse came in and told Amelia that she was set to be discharged later that night. Everything was going according to plan.

Once she was discharged, she immediately set off for the house. Not wanting to risk running into William or any of the others, she traveled via dimensional portal. When she appeared in the main foyer of the house, she knew she was alone. She quickly went up to her room and found a bag in the back of her closet. She began shoving various clothes and weapons into her bag. After filling the bag with as much as she could without it being too heavy to carry, she slung the bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Adam as she walked down the stairs

She ignored him and kept on walking. She stopped when she felt him grab onto her arm.

He eyed the bag she had over her shoulder. "Oh, I get it. You think you're going to leave, aren't you?"

Amelia laughed. "And you think you're going to stop me?"

As Adam and Andy moved forward to try and stop her, Amelia summoned power from the demon to send Andy crashing backwards into a wall, knocking him out. When Adam tried to avenge him, Amelia used demonic magic to make his limbs seize up, preventing him from moving. He struggled but was no match for the ancient magic. She circled him as he struggled, thinking of the best way to destroy him. An idea popped into her mind and she smiled.

"You know Adam, since you're so good at keeping secrets, I'll tell you a secret, an old one. This is a secret that only the dead know," she said as she walked up to him and began to whisper in his ear, the words rolling off her tongue effortlessly.

Very soon after, Adam began to scream, almost as if he were being physically tortured. She unlocked his limbs and began to walk towards the door. Before she left though, she decided to leave her mark on the house. Grabbing a handful of the expensive plush curtains that lined the high rise windows, she allowed a spark of hellfire to appear in her palm, setting the thick curtains alight in minutes. Thoroughly satisfied with her work, she walked out of the house and summoned a dimensional portal that took her to the address that was listed on the piece of paper Patrick had dropped a few days earlier.

She checked her surroundings to make sure she wasn't being followed and knocked on the door. She could hear someone approaching the door. A man with red hair answered the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked

"I need to speak with Patrick Stump," she replied

"Sure, come on in, Amelia. We've been expecting you."

Amelia nodded and followed him inside. She set her stuff down on a sofa. Patrick had his back to her. He was scribbling notes in a notepad. She cleared her throat. He turned around to look and dropped the pen and notepad from his hands.

"You remember?" he asked

She nodded with a smile.

"All of it. I remember everything."

Before she could say anything else, she was enveloped in a bone crushing hug. Patrick wrapped his arms around her. When he finally pulled away, he was grinning and his eyes were misty. He hastily wiped his eyes and smiled.

"I was so scared that we had lost you for good."

She smiled and shook her head. "Nah, I just got a little side tracked, that's all."

After that, Patrick insisted on making her food and demanded that she tell them all about the last five years. Pete even ventured out into the living room, not surprised by Amelia's appearance. She went through as much of the last five years as she could remember, including her last run in with Beckett which had almost left her for dead.

"Wait, I don't get it. You're a demon. You're so much stronger than Beckett. How was he able to beat you?" Andy asked

"While that might be true, you have to understand. The demon's power was locked away inside of me for five years. I might be stronger but I didn't have any control. So that's what I came here to do. I want to learn how to control my power again. Then I'm going to find Beckett, rescue AJ, and then kill him. I need to work fast though. Once he finds out what I did, he's going to come looking for me."

When she received puzzled stares, she explained how she set fire to the mansion while placing the youngest vampire, Adam, under a curse that would cause excruciating pain, so much that he would beg for death.

While Pete seemed impressed, Patrick paled considerably.

"You know he's going to come looking for you, right?"

"Let him look all he wants. I don't care. I came here to get stronger, to train so that I can kill William the next time I see him."

Pete nodded in approval.

"Do you really think that's your best option?" Patrick asked

Amelia nodded. "It's been five years too long since that bastard ruined everything. He deserves what's coming, both in this life and the next."

Patrick knew there was no changing her mind, so he shrugged.

"Well, if you're gonna go after Beckett, you're going to need to be well rested. Why don't we turn in for the night and start fresh again tomorrow? Meet in the training room at sunrise. We have a lot of work to do."

After that, Patrick showed Amelia a room with a small bed where she could sleep. Though it was a lot less comfortable than the lavish set up at the mansion, it felt wonderful to finally be free. Amelia easily fell asleep with thoughts of victory racing through her head.

She awoke the next morning as soon as she sensed the sun rising. Her body had always naturally synced with the rising sun. With a quick stretch, she tied her hair back and walked to the training room Patrick had showed her yesterday. As soon as she entered the room, she felt the rush of air as a knife went flying past her head, landing in the opposite wall. She turned in the direction the knife had come from. Andy was leaning against the wall, twirling a knife.

"Think fast," was all he said, with a smile.

Amelia struck a fighting pose and began to react. To her delight, she found that most of the skills she had learned as an assassin were still intact. She was able to keep up with Andy and eventually after a few hours, she managed to knock him off his feet multiple times. Then they took a break to eat breakfast.

After finishing her meal, she went with Patrick to a room he called the meditation room. She worked with him to strengthen the connection between herself and the demon. She learned to draw on, utilize, and most importantly, control the demon's power. Then came more combat and weapons training, this time with Pete and Joe thrown into the mix as well.

For a little over a week, this was her routine. By the end of a week, Amelia was able to access all of the demon's abilities once again and was able to hold her own against Pete, eventually defeating him as well. Everyone admired her progress.

"Now all we have to do is wait. He'll show up eventually."

"If you really want to get him to show up, send him a letter. That's how we got him the last time," Patrick said thoughtfully.

Amelia nodded. "Get me some nice paper and a pen. I'll write him a letter."

Later, Amelia sat down to write her letter to William. She used her best handwriting to write a short correspondence. The message was simple: meet in the old part of town, near the old manufacturing plants and come alone. No weapons, no fighting. Just a conversation. She sent it off with Patrick when he made a run for supplies and crossed her fingers.


	15. Chapter 15

The meeting was set in three days, the night of the full moon, knowing she would be able to draw some power from the mystical moon.

As the sun began to set, she was pacing around nervously. Though she had planned everything perfectly, she was still nervous that this wouldn't go off without a hitch. As she paced, she felt Patrick put a hand on her shoulder and he smiled reassuringly at her. Amelia smiled back.

"We should get going," Pete said from the kitchen.

Tearing her gaze away, Amelia nodded. She made sure all of her weapons were secure under her trenchcoat and that her boots were laced up. As the five of them walked down the streets, Amelia focused her energy and began reciting the words to an ancient spell, used to shield oneself from their enemies. Soon, they were at the designated meeting place. Patrick and the others hid around the corner in locations that allowed them to see what was happening.

Amelia took a moment to compose herself. She didn't know how this meeting would go. She could only hope to live to see tomorrow.

As the last streaks of daylight faded from the sky, she could see shadows approaching her.

To her dismay, William was not alone. AJ walked beside him though her posture indicated uncertainty. Mike and Brendon followed, as did Andy. Adam was nowhere to be seen, which meant William must have freed him from the curse, the only way which that was possible was through death. Michael walked behind all of them.

A cold wind blew.

"I thought I told you to come alone," she said, her voice cold as soon as they got close enough.

"And I thought we agreed on no weapons," William replied, noting the gun at her waist.

Amelia smiled at him. "And after all, what is a lie? Tis but the truth in masquerade, something you're well versed in."

"Quoting Lord Byron, now are you? I doubt that you summoned me here just to talk."

Amelia smiled wider. "Ah, but words are some of the most powerful magic that we possess, for it is words that can truly harm a person. Speaking of words, how is Adam doing? I can see that he's not here. That's a shame. I had quite a nice conversation with him before I left."

William stiffened almost imperceptibly, but did not betray any emotion.

"If by nice conversation you mean indirectly causing his death I see your point. Thanks to whatever you said to him, I was forced into an act of mercy I would have preferred to not have entertained." He spoke coolly, trying to not think back to how Adam had quite literally begged for death after the demon had cursed him.

She laughed at him. "Mercy? You don't know the meaning of the word. All you do is destroy, William. You destroyed our lives, and now you've destroyed Adam's. And you know what they say about such people. Those who plot the destruction of others often perish in the attempt."

His eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?"

Amelia smiled as her eyes flashed blue. "Decide that for yourself."

She removed her coat which revealed her tight black bodysuit, which was covered in armor the color of blood.

William sighed. "Really, Amelia? We're doing this again? Did you learn nothing the last time you tried to defeat me, little girl?"

"Oh trust me, William, I've learned a lot since then," she smirked.

"Very well," he said, removing his coat and hat, "But don't cry when I-"

Before he could finish, it was as if someone has flipped a switch inside of Amelia. Taking a deep breath in, she concentrated and let the demon's power flow through her. Wide arcs of blue energy circled her body and, gathering the energy in her hands, she thrust her hands out, sending a beam of energy towards William.

He wasn't expecting it and went flying backwards. He stared up at her as she walked towards him.

"Well, looks like this little girl grew up quick. What's wrong, William? Afraid to fight back?" she asked

When she spoke, there were two voices. There was of course, her own voice but it was intertwined with something much more powerful and sinister underneath.

The demon was in complete control.

William got to his feet and ran at her. From his side, he pulled out a cane that doubled as a sword. He brought the cane down with the intent of stabbing her, but Amelia easily parried with a sword of her own. The two went back and forth for some time before Amelia managed to sweep him off his feet. Amelia stood over him, smirking.

"Oh come on, William. Thought you were better than this," she said, walking around him in a circle while dragging the blade behind her. The blade made an irritating scraping noise on the ground. William did not make any effort to move.

She stepped forward and picked the blade up. She placed the tip against William's throat and watched as a tiny rivulet of blood dripped from the superficial wound.

"So that's it? After all this, and you've got nothing to say? The great William Beckett stunned into silence. Well, that should certainly make this easier," she said, lifting the blade and preparing for the final blow.

As she prepared to strike, she heard a noise in her head. It sounded like static and interference. It vexed her greatly, and she knew what it meant. She turned to where the rest of William's men stood. She did not lower her weapon.

"Really, Brendon? Trying to probe my thoughts at a time like this?"

He smirked. "It distracted you, though."

A fist came flying from Amelia's left side. Her eyes widened in shock and she gasped. Mike had appeared next to her in the instant her back was turned. Before the fist could make contact, however, it stopped. It was as if he had come up against some kind of invisible wall, mere inches away from her face. The demon's energy was repelling the force of the punch, rendering it useless. Amelia smirked as she increased the energy and delighted as Mike's hand was forced open and several of his fingers were mercilessly bent backwards, the resounding crack which echoed through the empty part of the city. He howled in pain and Amelia flung him backwards. He hit a nearby wall and lay motionless on the ground.

"Oh, that's it!" Brendon declared

He rushed forward with the intent of destroying Amelia. Before he could do anything, however, a storm of bullets rained down on him. He stopped in his tracks as Pete and the others stepped out from their hiding spot.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Peter Wentz and his band of fools. Came to play?" Brendon asked with a grin that revealed his fangs

Pete could only roll his eyes.

"More like commit murder, but that's besides the point. Too bad you couldn't keep this one on one like last time... Speaking of which, where's the girl?"

At that, Brendon's eyes widened. He hadn't seen Adeline make any sort of sudden move, usually these fights she was the first one on the field and the last to give up. But this time, nothing.

"Doesn't matter if she's not in on the fight, Pete. One less person to worry about," Joe pointed out as he scanned the group - knowing Amelia could handle Beckett, he figured the rest of them would be easy to take down.

In another blink of the eye the fight was back on!

It was William this time who had gone back on the offensive with trying to get a decent hit on the demon, though her speed rivaled his all the same.

Brendon and Pete had taken to circling each other, the former tsking at the expected cowardly tactic.

"No head on rush? Really? Thought you were that stupid." Brendon sneered, warily keeping an eye on the katana wielder, who was parrying with Chislett, though they hadn't come to blows yet.

Michael Guy Chislett of course, knew that was all part of the plan. In between Amelia making her escape and planning the meeting, she'd tipped him off to what was going to happen, and somehow it was decided he should be spared. So, to keep him from dying, he was to focus on Andy alone.

"Well let's see, last time someone did that they broke a rib!" Came Patrick's voice, reminding them of the fight with Beckett and AJ earlier that month.

The other Andy, on the other hand, was flitting around all the others, trying to find Adeline - if Pete's comment was anything to go by, she was in danger. Expecting her to be somewhere in William's shadow, he was surprised to find her over by the wall where Mike had landed, cradling the injured vampire's head in the lap as she stroked his hair.

"Adeline? Are you-"

She looked up, eyes glassy.

"I didn't know that demon is why Adam is dead. And now that she's gone and done this? His entire hand is fractured, fighting like that is useless!"

Andy nodded. "Wait. I can fix that."

Closing his eyes and taking ahold of her hand, he used his ability to control time to rewind it, to the exact moment Mike had tried to punch the demon. At that moment however, Adeline jumped, her hand connecting with the demon's face just as Mike was thrown back, the chain of events remaining somewhat static.

And now, opening his eyes again, Andy smiled as he saw Adeline helping Mike stand, one hand rubbing her knuckles where impact had taken place.

"It's like punching a werewolf, my god."

"Atleast you're ok." it was the warmest smile she'd ever seen from him, and she for a second had to wonder if he had a plan in mind that he wasn't telling anyone about.

When they both jumped back into the fray, it seemed as if there was an sense of desperation in the air.

Brendon had finally lunged for Pete, and the two were throwing punches left and right.

Amelia had noticed exactly what had happened with the time trick, and now that it seemed AJ was in on the fight, something had to be done to get her to change her mind. They'd been talking between planning things, though it didn't seem like she'd made up her mind yet.

When the two managed to connect gazes for a few seconds, the demon's eyes glowed and she nodded. And then, it was like a switch had flipped.

Because the next time she looked at William, it was like she was seeing a different person. This wasn't the one she'd fallen in love with - this was the one that had lost control and nearly killed her two weeks earlier. This was someone who had mind controlled her and Amelia into working for him, and orchestrated everything after. His smile had never been warm or genuine, and it had taken her saving Mike to realize what a real one looked like. And that's when she realized - Mike probably loved her more than William ever had, which is why the early days had scared her. He hadn't been trying to hurt her, he'd been trying to protect her.

Teleporting beside William, she grinned and closed her eyes.

"You know, I've thought about things long enough. That journal Amelia found, all that. Five years is too long to be controlled, and I don't know how I let myself fall for it. I've known for awhile, just was waiting to say something. Peter and his group were right as well - you couldn't lie to me forever."

When her eyes opened again, they were glowing just like the demon's, but they were white.

"Adeline, where's all that coming from? I don't-"

She raised her hand, and it was like everything around her stopped, as the Fall Out Boy boys paused each battle, allowing Brendon and Mike to sweep into the female vampire's flank before the elder reacted.

"I don't know how I expected you to stay static. Once Amelia found out, I should have killed her before you could be involved. Truthfully I should have killed you first and kept the demon around, she's the more efficient killer after all - but I couldn't go another hundred or so years without a mate, so I let you live."

The stinging realization of the comment took her by surprise, and it was another second before she slapped him.

Of course, his reaction time was better, and he caught her wrist and twisted it nearly to the point of snapping. His eyes mirrored hers, though they were pitch black.

"Adeline, did you really just try to hit me?"


	16. Chapter 16

She winced as his grip tightened, blinking back tears.

"Payback's a bitch, sweetheart. And it's about time I repaid you for those lessons."

Twisting out of his hold, she threw another punch and tried to remember everything she had seen him do in fights so she'd be able to counteract whatever he threw back at her.

That punch caught him full on in the jaw, and he snarled as he stepped back into a rhythm with a kick that sent her flying several feet.

But to her surprise, she didn't land on the ground. Instead, stronger arms caught her, and she found herself looking in Mike Carden's green eyes when her head turned.

"I'm not about to let him hurt you again. He's done enough."

William laughed from where he stood, and it was the most eerie thing she'd ever heard from him.

"Oh, love. Those weren't lessons. It was just like that series you adore - what was it now, so-called-abuse dressed up as consenting power trips and brooding leads? You were so eager for the silk ropes and burn marks once I explained it was just to teach you proper placement and all."

Her eyes widened, the thought had never crossed her mind that it was all gaslighting and lies while it was happening, but now she could believe it. She blinked and looked up at Mike, trying to smile despite what she'd just heard. If he really did care about her, there was one way to test it.

"Don't let him hurt me." It was nearly a whispered plea from the blonde, her head lulling to the side softly as he adjusted her in his arms.

"He'd have to kill me first."

As he set her down, sparks flew. Literally flew, because William was summoning lightning and aiming directly for the two.

Before it could make contact, Brendon had jumped in front of it, the shock barely phasing him as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Knew we should have kept a closer eye on her all these years. Those burn marks on her wrists weren't routine for etiquette. You even told us we're taught not to hurt a lady, and you go ahead and abuse her. We didn't stand up then because it wasn't in our place, we've seen you mad. But enough is enough, William. You can't hurt her like this."

The near feral growl that left William at the sight of not one, but both second in commands standing up to him was something from the direwolf form he could assume that neither vampire had seen in years. He'd only shifted to that form once or twice in their years since being sired, and it was when there was no one there to redirect or soothe the absolute rage that preceded the shift.

Adeline had been lucky not to see it, and that was all the boys had wanted - if she saw William in that form they were sure she'd find a way to decapitate herself.

"Look at that. It's not just Mike this time. Brendon, I'm ashamed. Stepping in at a time like this...you know better."

All three vampires cringed at the admonishing tone, it was like William was acting like nothing was wrong.

"Knew." William corrected, narrowing his eyes as he flicked his wrist, the Vegas native's body moving towards him with a clearly unnatural movement as pain flashed across his face seconds before he burst into flames.

"BRENDON!"

It's a scream from the blonde at the sight, she all but leaping out of the shaggy haired vampire's arms, fingertips blazing from concentrated pyrokinetics.

William looked up at her and shrugged, looking rather smug and pleased with the reaction.

"Sorry doll, three against one's not fair, surely you could tell that?"

"You didn't have to kill him..." Mike's voice is choked, and it startles both of them.

Across the way, Amelia and Patrick were watching the four - well three now, as the others continued fighting. Chislett and Andy had split to doubling with Butcher and Joe, so that was a four way fight. Pete had reversed the original fight scene before he and the boys had been arrested, and he was now perched on top of a nearby car.

"If she and Carden can keep him occupied long enough, I may be able to sneak in and switch the lights out." The demon relayed as Patrick nodded.

"I'm surprised you've kept up this form this long, Amelia. Training's done you well."

The girl held up a hand, motioning to the vampires. Mike had collapsed to his knees besides the now pile of ash that was Brendon, and AJ was simply standing - shaking with anger, but standing.

Using some of the demon's power, she cloaked her presence and slunk over by the group, sword wielded.

When Adeline's eyes finally calmed from the healing glow of having everything come back and the sting of tears at watching Brendon disintegrate in front of her dissipated, she could only glare at the man - monster she had once loved as she walked closer to him, hands up in a surrender.

"Amelia and I should have killed you, Beckett. Before we could fall under whatever jedi mind trick you pulled. But I was naive, and I didn't listen. I didn't listen to my head when I knew I was in danger. I went with my heart, and now it's going to cost me in the years of therapy that will follow my best friend if she watches what I'm going to do. But I guess goodbye is a goodbye. And because you already know I'm a hopeless romantic, albeit one easily controlled at that - I'm going to allow myself to kiss you one last time, before I kindly ask Mike to kill me."

"NO! Damn it Adeline, what the hell?! I can't- not after-" He immediately protested, though he calmed after seeing the smile hidden beneath the tear tracks staining her face as she faced him.

She had a plan, and needed help.

Turning back to William, she blinked and tried to remember the first night she thought she'd loved him. Tried to imagine him then, new suit and that damned cloak pulled tight across his broad shoulders, pelt overlaying that before he adjusted the derby and kissed her goodbye for the night.

Standing up on her tiptoes, her lips brushed his cheek before they touched his own, her hands lifting to cling to the lapels of his suit jacket one last time.

As she let go, she turned around and smiled.

"If I'm going to die, might as well let the person that actually loves me do the killing. It'll be a little more painful for you, knowing you don't have the satisfaction of ending this like you wanted. You can't always get your way."

She stepped forward, barely nodding as Mike raised his hands to set them on her shoulders. Adeline resigned herself and closed her eyes, knowing that any second, the demon was going to act. She'd sensed its presence as soon as Brendon had been murdered, and remembered the plan they'd made.

It was quiet for a few seconds, before a pained gasp was heard.

She didn't dare turn around at the blade entering the elder's back, before her reinforcements swept in and swiftly decapitated and dismembered him. All she could do was open her eyes and concentrate on the green irises in front of her before his mouth was against hers, refocusing and distracting her from any pain.

It was over. Or perhaps, it was just beginning. The years of lies and torture were over, and she could hopefully go back to living a normal life - as normal as an assasin's was.

When her lips were finally released, she managed a smile as she collapsed against Mike, arms winding around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you. You didn't really think I'd ask you to kill me, would you? I'm not that low."

He actually laughed as he kissed her hair, trying not to roll his eyes.

"Being honest, you had me scared for a good minute or two. But you're okay?"

She nodded, turning around to watch the demon sheathing her sword, a victorious grin plastered to her face.

"We did it. We can go home. God I've missed California now that I remember we're not actually from here!"

It was Adeline's turn to make a face, and she scoffed at the mention of the state.

"Uh...I'm not a daywalker, Amelia. California will literally kill me. I can't go back there." Her voice cracked slightly, as she looked around, realization hitting her that William was finally dead - "But I can't stay here, either. Too many memories."

She blinked as she felt Mike squeeze her hand in way of reassurance.

"Then make new ones. Move north, it's not as sunny and you know you love the smell of the forest after it rains."

"You can't be serious. The cheeseheads? The lack of hockey? I couldn't." It was a laugh now, she shaking her head.

"What if you weren't alone?"

Adeline snorted. "I appreciate the offer, but I think I'm done living with vampires for awhile. Well...roommates I wouldn't mind, but don't think that because William's dead and I've realized you're actually not trying to kill me and you actually have feelings for me means I'm going to sleep with you."

Amelia couldn't hold in her laughter, they both knew in about three days she'd take back those words if anything happened.

"So? I guess it wouldn't be so bad. Just not a tiny apartment, I'll go insane." Adeline reasoned, watching as the boys walked over, weapons dropped.

"Well, it's a little late given the circumstances, but the job's finished. The payment should go through tomorrow, if you'd like to join us for dinner tonight you can, I believe celebratory deep dish is in order." Patrick pointed out.

Amelia nodded before she turned to look at everyone.

"That's a great idea Patrick, but AJ and I have some serious organizing to do - starting with finding a smaller place to live, I'm not going back to that mansion for the rest of my life."

"Did you not just hear our entire conversa-" the raven haired vampire started, sighing as he realized three of the hunters were starting to walk away - and Pete wasn't trying to pick a fight, evidently sated at last now that William was dead.

Amelia, thinking to what had just been said, looked around. And then realized, Butcher and Chislett were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, where's Andy and Michael?" Adeline asked, echoing her thoughts.

"You know he tends to disappear, who knows. With that time control ability, Andy probably rewound it enough to where he's in an alternate universe being mischievous with Sisky all over again. And Michael? He's the only daywalker out of us, probably figures he's better off by himself now that William's dead."

Her lips twitched into a small grin.

"Y'know, not that William's not around, he and Amelia could actually be a thing and not have to worry about it. I mean besides the fact that he tried to kill her once because he hadn't feed but still."

Amelia shot a look at the younger girl.

"Would you listen to yourself? You're ridiculous!"

"But I'm right, right?"

"Oh, shut up. But anyways - thanks for the offer Patrick, but I think we'd better take tonight to relax and think things out."

The techie nodded.

"It's been nice working with you. You're both good fighters, and you know how the business goes. Good luck in the future, guys. Though I don't think you'll need it." And with a wink, he turned to the rest of his friends, and followed them off into the dark, off to hunt whatever else was bound to take over the city.

Amelia stared after him for a few minutes, trying not to think about everything that had just happened. They had gotten their lives back, though they'd never be the same. And maybe AJ had a point, about her and Chislett.

"Y'know, pizza actually does sound really good. AJ, if I turn around and you're sucking face I'm going to decapitate you myself," she deadpanned in warning before turning, the blonde sticking her tongue out mockingly.

"Do you really think I'm that-"

"Glad to see you're alright, sheila."

At the familiar voice, Amelia's eyes widened, forgetting he could read minds and had probably returned thanks to the things she was now thinking.

And without skipping a beat, she turned and threw herself into the Australian's arms, ignoring AJ's snickered 'told-you-so'.

"Things have changed. William's dead, we're not controlled, things are...okay for once. We're starting over." It was an awed whisper as she looked up, he lifting a hand to ruffle her hair.

"Just the two of you, or-" he started, smiling as Mike motioned between the four of them with a head tilt and his eyes. Chislett shrugged, reading back into the conversation he'd missed.

"I'm down. Northern woods, somewhere on the lake?"

Both girls giggled before AJ turned to Amelia.

"So, guess we're moving to Wisconsin? And still living with vampires. Some things never change."

"You staked your first roommate, I wouldn't be talking." Amelia laughed as she swatted at the blonde, who grinned.

"Hey, we all gotta start hunting somehow. Wisconsin's big for werewolves I hear, that and native american legends. We could try something new."

Amelia paused.

Try something new.

And somehow, she was perfectly fine with that.


End file.
